Jeremy Foster

Simplicity \Sim*plic”i*ty\, n. [F. simplicit['e], L. simplicitas.

The quality or state of being not complex, or of consisting of few parts; as, the simplicity of a machine. [1913 Webster]

Freedom from artificial ornament, pretentious style, or luxury; plainness; as, simplicity of dress, of style, or of language; simplicity of diet; simplicity of life. [1913 Webster]

I was tired of the same old theme on the site. Tired of people saying they couldn’t find stuff, tired of cropping/photoshopping header images. Here is the vanilla version of the site. Clean, clear concise and to the point. Old school tabs, Old School fonts…. Simplicity!

Enjoy.

Tags: freedom, simplicity, vanilla HTML, webster

So here’s the deal on Microsoft Word being yanked from shelves by January 11, 2010.

i4i, a database company back east that developed the first XML plugin for Microsoft Word claimed that Microsoft infringed upon their patent(s) regarding how XML is used and parsed in Office Documents, specifically Word (.doc) documents. i4i actually updated the USPTO database to work with Word 2000 and specifically developed an algorithm on how applications read and write custom XML.

In case you haven’t noticed, when you save a file in MS Office 2007 or greater, it saves it with an extension like “docx”. If you attempt to open this file with another application other than Office, you will actually open a zip file of xml files instead of “one file”. What Microsoft did was change the file type so that there is the actual “data” or text in the file, and an XML file to describe to Office how to present it. It is almost the same relationship CSS has to XHTML.

Essentially Microsoft took i4i’s method of applying XML to files and tried to make it their own….sound familiar?? In May a Texas jury found Microsoft: …willfully infringed on the patent and on Tuesday, December 22, a Federal appeals court upheld the patent ruling that Microsoft stop selling its Word program and pay i4i $290 Million for violating a patent.

Tags: i4i patent, Microsoft, Microsoft patent infringement, Microsoft Word, Office patent infringement, Office patents, Office Word 2007

Nowadays when you ask someone to define “Social Networking” it usually brings out a string of words like “Twitter”, “Facebook”, “MySpace”, “YouTube” and the list goes on. To me social networking doesn’t happen when you’re sitting at a desk behind a computer or on the train with your cell-phone. This happens when you’re out – far away from the desk and anything to do with technology, social media and the like and enjoying time with friends or colleagues.

For me this is when we hoist a cold frothy brew and toast each other’s health and the good times we’re about to have. Spending time with those who matter and enjoying life is what Social Networking is to me. I’ve made more business connections and met more friends over a beer than fishing for contacts on Facebook or LinkedIn.

Think about that next time someone asks what Social Networking is. My answer is – let’s go grab a pint and talk about it!

Cheers.

Tags: Cheers, enjoying life, frothy brew, good times, pint, social media, social networking

Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter is launching a new venture this week called “Square”. The business model is quite simple in that it will:

enable peer-to-peer and merchant credit card transactions in the real world far beyond what’s capable today in most countries.

What you get is a small dongle (which I can only assume is the “Square”) and the scanning application to process the transaction.

The idea is if you are a Square merchant and someone wishes to purchase a product or service from you, all they need is a debit or credit card, a finger (to sign for the purchase on the touchscreen phone) and an email address to receive the receipt. From the article on Wired:

Square is targeted partially at small business owners who don’t want to sign up for full-scale credit card merchant accounts through the usual venues. One perk for them: a built-in loyalty program, so that customers don’t need to remember to bring along their stampable card in order to receive a free eleventh coffee, sandwich, bottle of wine, and so on.

Tags: business model, card merchant accounts, loyalty program, merchant credit card, peer to peer, phone, receipt, small business owners, square, touchscreen, transaction, Wired

I’ve always been pretty good at interviews. Mostly because I’ve done my homework and know:

1. what the company does,
2. how the company makes money,
3. what my job would entail,
4. what my weaknesses are and
5. how to show confidence in my skills.

Aaron Swartz has a very different interview process which entails a very simple, casual atmosphere (coffee shop etc.) and small talk. No interview style questions in the least are asked during the discussion. His main goals are to find out:

1. Is the person smart?
2. Can they get stuff done?
3. Can you work with them?

I think this is an excellent way to conduct an interview because as the post states:

Programming isn’t typically a job done under pressure, so seeing how people perform when nervous is pretty useless. And the interview questions usually asked seem chosen just to be cruel. I think I’m a pretty good programmer, but I’ve never passed one of these interviews and I doubt I ever could.

I’ve never been involved in the interview process at my work but one day – when the time comes – this is totally how I’d like to conduct interviews to hire developers.

Tags: aaron swartz, casual atmosphere, confidence, developers, interview questions, interview style, job

An Italian doctor may have found a very simple cure to Multiple Sclerosis by unblocking restricted bloodflow out of the brain. Two years after the surgery, 73% of the patients [have] no symptoms. Dr. Zamboni’s thinking could turn the current understanding of MS on its head, and offer many sufferers a complete cure.

Tags: bloodflow, brain, italian doctor, sclerosis cure, zamboni