Wow. The rumors have been building for years, but most specifically in the last few weeks. But I thought I’d wait to hear it from Steve himself before commenting. Yup, he just confirmed in his WWDC keynote that Apple will be moving the Macintosh to Intel chipsets over the next two years.

This is a huge change that for years people have argued vehemently would never happen or would kill Apple if it did. We shall see. It is fresh and I still don’t have well formed opinions. It was clear IBM’s PPCs had started to lag recently, and they were having trouble making a G5 fit in a powerbook, so perhaps it makes sense.

The coverage is everywhere, so I won’t link to any particular one, but looks like they have the transition pretty mapped out. Most apps will just need minor tweaks and a recompile, others will be able to run in emulation at a still decent speed. They’ve had the OS running on both platforms internally for the last FIVE YEARS.

The coverage I read so far wasn’t 100% clear, but I am assuming you will still have to run OS X on actual Macs from Apple, and you won’t just be able to install it on your typical WalMart PC. I think that is key. But who knows what things will look like a year from now when they start shipping the first Intel based Macs.

The OS is really what makes a Mac a Mac, and the really good case design and usability and such, not the chipset. But still… even if it turns out for the best, this seems just a tad… dirty. Intel. Ick!

We’ll see how they do though. Could be very interesting.

It has been a LONG time since I blogged anything related to what I do for a living, but I figure an occational entry on that front is OK, even if most of the people who read this could care less.

I came across an interesting article today on the phases of spending on a content management implementation. It appears to be more geared toward web content management, but also applies to other types, including the presentation manangement sort of thing we do.

Spending patterns during CMS implementation
(James Robinson, CM Briefing)

Beyond the initial go-live, there is still much work to be done. There is typically more content to be migrated, or more sites to be moved into the CMS.

The number of authors is generally also expanded during this phase, particularly when moving to a ‘decentralised’ authoring model.

More work will also be done on general ‘housekeeping’, such as rewriting key content, deleting old material, or further restructuring the site.

Workflow rules may also be tested and refined, along with security settings and other CMS configuration details.

Overall, it may take upwards of 12 months to fully complete the content migration, and have the CMS running as ‘business as usual’.

(via CMSWatch)

Actually, I think if anything here, they significantly underestimate the effort required in the adoption phase. While the dollar costs may be less if you don’t count person*hours, the total costs are more significant. One of the biggest reasons for CM implementations failing is underestimating the work required for the adoption phase. Work processes have to be adapted to the new tool. Habits need to be changed. Internal users need to be “sold” on the idea that the system actually helps them. They have to become comfortable with the tool. The best way to use the tool to match the business needs has to be determined. And for any enterprise scale tool (and even many smaller scale ones) this is not trivial, and requires thought and planning. Those that try to just “wing it” will almost certainly fail unless they get really lucky.

Lunch time, so time for a quick post… uh… and maybe I’ll get some food, maybe not. :-)

I’ve been holding off on replacing my GPS just because it isn’t the highest priority to spend money on even though it has a huge orange spot in the middle of the screen that makes it difficult to use. But the wait has paid off! Garmin has announced a new unit!!!

Garmin StreetPilot c330

Our StreetPilot “c-series” GPS navigators feature a simple touchscreen interface, with automatic route calculation to any destination and turn-by-turn voice-prompted directions along the way. Selecting a destination is straightforward and requires only a limited amount of input from the user. Plus, the StreetPilot c320 and StreetPilot c330 allow you to choose between a three-dimensional navigation view or the more traditional “bird’s eye” overhead view.

For the ultimate out-of-the-box convenience, the StreetPilot c330 comes pre-loaded with highly detailed MapSource City Select street data of the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The database features an industry-leading five million-plus points of interest—including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions. (The c320 comes with a 128 MB SD card and a MapSource City Select CD-ROM for data transfer from a PC via a USB connection.)

The centerpiece of both units is a bright, 3.5-inch diagonal, 16-bit color display that makes navigation a snap. The StreetPilot c330 features dual integrated speakers for high-quality voice prompts, and an internal lithium-ion battery for out-of-car route planning.

The new StreetPilot c-series boasts distinctive and sleek styling—the only buttons are a rotary volume knob and an on/off switch. The device is secured by a suction-mount cradle that fastens to the windshield for easy portability between vehicles. Users can customize their unit’s appearance with an array of colored faceplates (sold separately).

Suggested Retail Price:
$964.27 U.S.D. (for domestic US market only)

Expected Availability:
March 2005

(via gpsinformation.org)

No detailed reviews with screenshots and such yet. I can only hope that despite what they say about it being “Easy” they have retained all the features of previous StreetPilots. The only thing that could make me not want this would be if they removed some of the “geek features” like downloading tracks to your computer, entering destinations by latitude and longitude rather than by address, etc…. But Gramin has been pretty good about that sort of thing. If this thing is feature complete, then the larger screen plus preloaded nationwide maps and everything will make it a no brainer… once enough of the critical stuff is taken care of to make an optional thing such as this a reasonable way to spend money again.

Can’t wait to see detailed reviews of this thing once it is actually available!

So today at lunch I went with Brandy and exchanged my Treo 600 for a new one under warrentee. Right now it just finished resyncing with my laptop to restore all my contacts and programs and such. This is now my FOURTH Treo 600!!!

#1) Ordered right after the things first came out. Got it all set up. Loved it. Used it a lot. One day, the screen just was blank. Backlight on, nothing there. It was a decent flashlight, but no longer a phone. I paniced and was all upset, ready to buy a new one. Brandy made me go to the Sprint store though. They said “looks like you killed it” and then went into the back and got me a brand new one in the box. This was while we were still in PA.

#2) While I was going back and forth between FL and PA (March through June) I was doing conference calls a lot, so I bought a headset for the phone. I proceeded one day to wrap the headset around the phone, stick it in my pocket, and then sit on it. The headset had a remote control volume and microphone thingy that would normally hand down and you talk near it. Well, it is a kind of bulky thing, and when I sat on it, it pressed into the screen, because the way I had wrapped it, the bulky part was on the screen side this time, and not on the hard back of the Treo. The screen was smashed to smithereens. This time the Sprint store told me that this was NOT covered under warentee, cause, well, I had smashed it. I had to buy a brand new one full price. Bastards.

#3) When I get calls on my cell at work… or when I have to make a call, I go outside. Two reasons: One, reception in this building sucks because it is basically a metal box. Two, my office has tall walls and a door, but the walls do not go all the way to the ceiling, and are pretty thin anyway. There is no privacy. So I go talk on the phone in the parking lot. Well… in the summer in Florida when you go stand in a parking lot it is HOT. And when it is hot I, well, um, tend to sweat just a tad. After a 15 minute phone call, my face is soaking wet. And, since I am holding the phone next to my head, so is the phone. And I have discovered that Treos don’t like being soaking wet. The phone would start to flip out and do all sorts of random things. The keyboard would become unresponsive. The screen would sometimes work and sometimes not. After a few hours it would all dry out and work OK again. Well… the first few times anyway. Eventually some of the buttons stopped working completely. Namely the “Alt” button that lets you type symbols like @ when you are doing email. And the shift key, that lets you do capitals. And the space bar, which, well, does spaces. Finally the zero key started to be erratic. And while I used the touch screen to actually dial phone numbers, you have to use the zero on the keyboard when you go through those menus and stuff for customer service. I kind of needed the zero. Anyway, I’m not really sure if it was the sweat or not, but this time Sprint gave me a warentee replacement. (And even if they hadn’t, after #2 I signed up for the $4 per month phone insurance to replace the phone for a small deductible if I destroy it.)

#4) The one I picked up today. This time instead of a brand new one in the box with all the accessories I got a “factory refurbished” one. Oh well. I was hoping for a new one again, but given the situation I won’t complain too much. This one looks like new anyway. I also bought a new case for it that completely encases the Treo, with a clear plastic front that you can actually use the touch screen and all the buttons through. So I never have to take it out of the case. Ever. So I should be able to sweat on it if I have to. And I got a new headset, but one big enough and oddly shaped enough I will not be tempted to put it in my pocket. It stays in the car use for hands free driving only, not for normal use when I’m not driving. So hopefully this one will be OK. And if I do destroy it by mistake, I have that insurance now.

Of course, now there is a Treo 650. I of course want one. Next time I kill the 600, maybe I’ll be able to upgrade. But as usual, there are a BUNCH of things on the “to buy” list ahead of that…

So for now, I’ll see how long I can make Treo #4 last. They seem to be averaging about 3 to 4 months each.

This one is for Chad, who last I heard was slowly bankrupting himself through his addiction to online poker. Enjoy!

Online Poker and Unenforceable Rules

Most online casinos ban bots, but there is really no way to enforce such a rule. Already, many online players use electronic assistants that help them calculate odds, something that world-class players are adept at doing in their heads. Pokerbot technology will only advance, so that even if bots don’t outplay people now, they will eventually. (The claim, sometimes heard, that computers cannot understand bluffing in poker, is incorrect. Game theory can predict and explain bluffing behavior. A good pokerbot will bluff sometimes.)

(via BoingBoing)

The same kind of thing is obviously true for the online Chess Clubs like ICC and FICS. Of course, the difference is that most games on those (with the exceptions of some tournaments) have no real world stakes attached to them, so for the most part the honor system of identifying when a computer is involved works. This is less true when there is real money at stake.

I imagine that over time, almost all online competitive gaming venues where players interact with each other rather than just with the game will hit this problem to one degree or another.

Hmmm… no interest in the online poker, but this reminds me I haven’t been on ICC or FICS in a long time. Time to get online and play some chess! Maybe this weekend. We’ll see.