Index of Software

Most people that I speak to regarding computers, and particularly Windows 8 computers, usually start out with "I really don't like Windows 8." That usually brings on a conversation regarding the pros and cons of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8. In almost all cases I have found that attitude to be a result of unfamiliarity with the system. Truth be known, I felt the same way until I...  Read More

It’s here! Authoring the book, “Computing for Seniors,” entailed many long hours of work. While I may call it work, it really was a pleasure that I enjoyed. I have watched and participated in the history of computers over the years and have marveled at their progress. I remember my 1 st computer had tremendous speed of operation. Can you believe that the CPU in that computer had the astounding...  Read More

Whenever I see a beautiful sunset, what will go through my mind is a reminder that this day is almost through. We know what happened in this day, some good some not so good, some successful some not so successful. But it was a day that was given to us and it was pretty much for us to decide what we had was that we wanted to do with it. That’s the life that was given to us, one day at a time, for...  Read More

I'm pleased to report that I was recently featured in the Sunset Association's magazine for Waterford Place in an interview entitled, "Active Lives, Active Minds." The text of the interview is as follows: Barney Kamp has been tinkering with electronics since he joined the Air Force more than 60 years ago. “I’ve always been good with electronics,” noted Kamp, aresident of Waterford...  Read More

In the process of writing my new book, Windows 8 for Seniors, I found myself asking the question "why did we need Windows 8 at all?" Windows 7 was and is a great operating system which is fast, solid, and consistent, unlike some previous Microsoft operating systems. After all, if it was that good, why change it? Which calls my mind another old saying: "if it ain't broke don't fix it." On...  Read More

Years ago, if someone needed a new computer, they could go to a store where they were sold and buy what they thought they needed. Unfortunately, what they needed and what they bought were not always related. There are many honest and trustworthy business sources form which they could purchase a computer, but there were also a few that just wanted to unload a lemon they were trying to get rid of....  Read More

I've been fighting the Dragon too. For quite some time now I have been having some difficulties when typing. I used to be quite a typist, but now that I've gotten older my fingers don't seem to want to do what I ask them to do. When I hit one key my fingers seem to want to hit one and a half keys instead of just one. That makes for quite a "spellcheck" problem and for someone that enjoys...  Read More

Computing for Seniors In previous blogs, I’ve talked about the book I have written specifically for seniors called “Computing for Seniors.” You’ve probably been wondering if you would ever see it and I’m pleased to announce that Best Thinking has informed me that “Computing for Seniors” will be ready for publication by the end of February. Watch for further announcements around that time. Why...  Read More

It is strange to see how far removed researchers and inventors can be from corporate reality. Tim Berners-Lee, the father of Internet, says that all school students should be given some hands-on experience of programming. ( Click here to read article "Programming ability is the new digital divide: Berners-Lee"). He cannot be more far from reality when he goes on to say that lack of programming...  Read More

I suppose everyone complains about the weather, no matter what part of the country they live in. But Western Michigan can be a bit confusing. For the last four days it has been snowing. Well, you could say that, except that it hasn’t been snowing, it’s been Lake Effecting. Lake Effecting looks the same as snowing. It’s white, it needs to be shoveled, it’s cold, very cold, and beautiful all at the...  Read More

The words "computer game" seem to stir thoughts of play, wasting time, worthlessness, and other thoughts of this kind. In many instances you would be entirely right in thinking that. After all, if you’re sitting at your computer while at your job, and your boss walked by, he wouldn’t appreciate you playing games instead of doing productive work. For seniors the opposite is true. As those of...  Read More

More gifts that keep on giving. There are many things that I’ve noticed about Waterford Place and most of them are its people. They are many and varied. I’d like to tell you about one of them, one that I think of as a brother, at Waterford Place, we are all family. In my previous blog, I showed a picture of the, what I call the Brotherhood Society, or BS Club, as it was in session this past...  Read More

Retirement Home Living. As time goes by and you begin to reach the Senior era certain change of life decisions need to be made. You can either age while living in the home that you lived in before retirement, or you can look into living in a place where you could have relationships, fun, and enjoyment, as well as safety. The more you age the more safety becomes the main issue in your decisions....  Read More

Computerworld has published a "Power through schedules with 21 Google Calendar tricks" article. If you use Google Calendar, either the free consumer version or the paid Google Apps for Business version, it's worth taking a look at this list. Tips include the simple like use keyboard shortcuts to specific recommendations from Google Labs. Find some excerpts after the break: 1. Use keyboard...  Read More

Gifts that Keep Giving it’s Christmas day, a time for reflection. These are special days for all of us no matter what faith we have, it’s a special day. It’s a day when gifts are passed from one to another,all of our loved ones and family, and we are thankful for each other. What are gifts? A gift is not a gift unless it’s given. Gifts are things that we receive. I guess you could call them...  Read More

The “Oh it’s good enough for Ma" Syndrome. In my last blog I begin a series regarding the impediments to Computing for Seniors. That there are impediments is quite well known. Almost all of them are due to physical deterioration of some sort or other. This is quite common, and fortunately many of these impediments can be reduced in severity in one way or another. I will write more about that in...  Read More

I have been asked, “Why do you think seniors need special textbooks? Why can’t they use the ones that are available in just about any book store, in abundance?" The simple answer is that they think differently than younger people, and their minds don’t operate the same as when they were younger. So often I hear comments about seniors that classify them as too old to do anything right, or that...  Read More

I agree with the author of the post CIO Brand Value when he says that a CIO needs to build a brand for himself and his department in his organization. But before a CIO can build his “Brand CIO”, there is a need for the IT industry to build “BRAND IT”. The CIO’s task in brand building is doubly tough as the general impression about IT and IT folks is, unfortunately, not so great. Comments like...  Read More

Strong Family Life and Teacher Relationship Must Anchor Youngster Tablet Use THE URGENT PROBLEM : Technology can benefit but may also harm growing and grown brains alike. Source: MUST SEE long but excellent video. BRAVO! MILKEN INSTITUTE for publishing the best perspective yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NcsKGGJAcEs ANSWER I : Face-to-face contact....  Read More

Using clues that will be supplied by the ABA, be one of the first 5 to correctly guess who the ABA TECHSHOW 2012 keynote speaker is and be entered into a drawing for a discount on registration. A new clue will be posted daily until the first five correct guesses are made. Full details and the first clue at the TECHSHOW Homepage .The 2012 Keynote is a bigger name than any other previous TECHSHOW...  Read More

To understand the role of a development manager in Agile, we must first understand the difference between management and leadership. The goal of management is to attain perfection in its processes in an effort to maximize productivity. The goal of leadership is to be an agent for change in an effort to maximize organizational sustainability through innovation and adaptability. Although they are...  Read More

Congratulations to my former employer. Open source matters. Based on the run rates of the current quarter, Red Hat will likely reach $1 billion in annual revenue in 2011. Only a handful of companies, probably less than 20 software firms, have ever hit this milestone. Red Hat will be the first open source-focused company to break the billion dollar barrier. Certainly Richard Stallman did not...  Read More

When end users get involved in the final stages of testing, light bulbs go on, and they often have an "aha" moment. Unfortunately, that is often too late. Frank R. Parth Prototyping is as an example of a fast-fail strategy in action. And such fast fail strategies increase R&D productivity by clearing the development pipeline of flawed or failing products. When prototyping we don’t expect...  Read More

Transitioning to distributed scrum with offshore resources is hard. It requires significant change in the way teams are run and how members interact. There is also potential for dramatic improvement with productivity and ROI in general. There are plenty of articles written about offshoring projects, significantly less written on distributed teams, and a trivial amount written on distributed...  Read More

Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to demo at Finovate Spring 2011 .  In the past, I have presented at a variety of professional conferences (including Microsoft PDC and IEEE), but preparing and presenting at Finovate was a real eye-opener for me. In our presentation, I showcased the platform through several complex interactions. As an illustration, we decided to follow a “day in...  Read More

Several weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend of mine about pre-acquisition due diligence.  Charlie O'Rourke is one of the most seasoned developers I know. He's been doing hardcore technology for over 30 years and is one of the pivotal brains behind First Data Corporation’s multi-billion dollar payment processing platforms.  The conversation revolved around a method he uses for identifying...  Read More

A quick feature inventory of most “mature” commercial software products like Microsoft Word, Lotus Notes, etc. reveals that more than half of their features are either never accessed or are outright useless (the MS Office 2010 ribbon is an example of a clever attempt to obfuscate feature gluttony and compensate for poor access to most common features).  If you are developing software in a...  Read More

With many years of network infrastructure experience and evolution behind us, the networks and workstations within most organizations are pretty well standardized. It’s a different story for mobile devices and especially tablets, where the landscape could be aptly described as a lawless wild west. The Aberdeen Group just published a study called Enterprise Mobility Management 2011: Mobility...  Read More

Eagerly beginning the wall to scale, Using only my hands and feet. Resolved to follow the hardest trail, I confidently place my cleat. Suddenly, there’s no foothold to rest, Desperately, I cling to the wall. My heart is pounding in my chest, My ascent slows to a crawl, My feet and arms tire and shake, The safety line invites me to bail. Should I reach...  Read More

The overwhelming majority of users we deal with are non-technical and visual learners. As a result, requirements documents that are heavy on narrative are a poor conduit to understanding the way in which users will interact with a proposed application. By visually manifesting the application prior to development, wireframes put everyone in the best position to win. Here’s my anecdotal allegory...  Read More