Field Notes

Well, here it is. If you are a iCal user and need to coordinate calendars between multiple people, there is NO better product on the market than BusySync. Using Bonjour as a network communication protocol, BusySync allows you to manage an iCal calendar from multiple machines. For example, my wife uses a Mac Mini in the kitchen office, the location of the “home calendar.” At night, she likes to use her Powerbook before bed to update calendars and plan her next day or week. Using the default functionality with in OS X and the OS X web server only allow remote viewing. BusySync lets her make changes and updates. Now, is there a way to do this with the OS X default features? Maybe. If there is, I can’t figure it out and I can’t find anything on the Internet. That being said, BusySync made it fast and simple. Up and running in about, oh, 2 minutes! If you use Google calendar, it will sync with that as well. This was a possible alternative to BusySync because there are several opensource methods to sync iCal and Google calendar but they are not smooth. BusySync is just so easy and well designed.

Cons: BusySync is expensive. It is $25 per license. So for my wife to accomplish her tasks, it cost $50. Is it worth it? Yes and No. Yes because of the convenience; however I think there is an error in their pricing model. Although they offer a tiered discount model for 5 or more licenses, I believe the current pricing model is best designed for businesses and can push the family users away from the product. It was a tough decision for us to go with BusySync because of the price for a home management package. It would be nice to be able use it on all 3 of our home Macs. If I were the designers, I would have a non-commercial pricing scheme. Say $65 for up to 5 home based Macs. It is reasonable to assume that it is unlikely that a home would have more than 5 computers, frankly I think 5 is probably more than most homes. It would be easy enough to add code to see if there is more than 5 computers communicating, something I think would indicate a business vs. home use of the product. I know that we are “making due” with 2 licenses because more is just not financially reasonable for our budget. So, BusySync designers, I think you should consider adding another tier to your pricing model. I truly believe you will open up a new customer base with easier pricing for the home users.

Regardless. If you need to share iCal among users, don’t even bother looking for another solution. This is it.

Well, Father’s Day is almost complete. This is the first Father’s day since my Dad passed away March 11, 2008. In celebration of my Dad, I spent the entire day enjoying my own family. My mother told me today that she feels that I am an excellent Dad to my two kids. If that is so, it is my Dad I have to thank for teaching me how to be a good father and husband. So, this post will be about my Dad, philosophy, and family.

My Dad was a the child of immigrant parents. He lived in New York city, in The Village before The Village was kitsch. He worked hard. His father passed away when my Dad was only 17. Through his hardwork and the support of his older brother Frank, my Dad attended Stuyvesant High School in New York. A school that one could only attend with excellent academic performance. My Dad was always first in his class. From there my Dad attended City College of New York. Although the same CCNY as today, at that time one had to maintain an excellent GPA in order to attend free of charge. While at CCNY, my Dad participate in Army ROTC, was a member of the Persian rifles, was a classmate of Colin Powell, and graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree. Following college he served the Army as a signal corp lieutenant.

My Dad worked for RCA for his entire life. While there he earned two Masters Degrees, one in Electrical Engineering and the other an MBA. From my seat, my Dad’s greatest achievement was his participation in the event of the millennium. My Dad was one of four persons who designed, tested and built the altimeter and rendezvous radars for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Never before in the history of man has such an accomplishment been achieved.

My Dad single handedly put me and my two brothers through college. He never asked for us to repay him. He wanted us to succeed and have an easer life than he did and to take the momentum he began and advance his family.

Because no testament to a parent or friend would be complete without the obligatory, “I wish I had …” (fill in the blank, “spent more time”, “spoken more”, etc.) I will add mine. I wish I had taken the time to speak more frequently with my Dad. But alas, life is always busy. Harry Chapin hit the nail on the head. The song is 100% correct.

So, in honor of my Dad, I spent the day not missing a moment of life. I worked on my house, I played in the pool with my kids, I played video games with my son, I danced with my daughter, I BBQ’d on the grill, and, as my Dad always did, I treated my wife like gold and the treasure that she is. My Mom and Dad knew each other for 65 years and he always treated her like gold.

I miss you Dad. We think of you often and your can think of more than a dozen times since your death that I have said, “I should call my Dad.”

My final word, “Call your Dad if you can.” He wants to hear from you and you know it. If you have strife between you, bury it for this one day for we know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. Don’t miss today.  Carpe Diem.

Like everyone, I am feeling the pinch at the pump. As I filled the tank on my once reasonable car, an Isuzu Rodeo, I got to thinking, how much of this is America willing to take? I am not so young that the gas shortage of the 70’s is ancient history, I was there; however, I am not old enough to have felt the financial pain of filling the tank or waiting in line. But it now seems that the ghosts of the 70’s are here. Grant it, we are not waiting in long lines, yet, for gas, but we are certainly paying through the nose.

Auto Industry Responds to America (not really)

As I was working out today I was watching Fox News. Of course, they had their obligatory high gas price story. The anchor was describing how the auto industry is responding to the high gas prices with new technology. Hydrogen cars? Electric cars? Mr. Fusion to power the electric car? No. the industry is introducing new wheels and tires that generate less friction and can give you, (are you sitting down?), up to 1MPG more. Is this the best the genius minds in the auto industry have to offer? WTF? We can put man on the moon but we can’t introduce technology that already exists. How much power does one lobby have over the current administration? Do they have pictures of Bush playing golf with Satan? Perhaps the first daughter’s wedding was a bit pricey and we need to keep those oil dollars flowing to pay off the tab. Folks, the science is there. It is tested and proven. Tesla Motors makes a $110K concept cars that go 250 miles on a single battery charge, go from 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, is the equivalent cost of 2 cents per gallon gas, and can recharge on 8 hours, 2 hours if you use their special recharger. Yes, this is outside the purchase reality of the average American; however, it need not be.

Where is the government?

Now, I am the last person to say that Big Government is good and that it should interfere with the free market economy; however, if there ever was a time, now is it. I make a good living. Thus far, I have been able to modify my budget to allow for gas price increases. But for how long and to what dollar per gallon level? My mind wanders to the single parent trying to make ends meet who has a tight budget already. How are they to combat these increases? Will people reach a point where welfare is a better option because they can no longer afford to have their once reasonable paying job because it costs too much to work? When will we see gas based crime? Remember the days of siphoning in the 70’s? How long until I am “gas-jacked?” Perhaps i am actually safer because people will only be stealing fuel efficient cars. And that will be the soccer moms.

An Inconvenient Answer

The immediate answer to the American gas problem is alternative fuel vehicles and public transportation. Get America driving cheap again in hydrogen or electric based vehicles. Give massive tax incentives to buy alternate fuel cars and for business ventures that support them or produce them. Make it such a pain in the ass for the oil, gas and auto industry to continue to sell there wares that they have no choice but to join the crowd. On top of all the money, happy American drivers, and freedom, we will start impacting the effects of green house gases. Wow two for one.

Hey McCain or a democrat to be named later! Want to win the hearts and minds of America? Commit to alternative fuel vehicles and stick to the promise. There is nothing better that the old fashion way of getting elected, buy the American public by giving them back what was taken from them by the current administration, their freedom, financial security, and dignity.

Buzzword Bingo

When was the last time you were pulled into a meeting based around buzz words? I was sucked into a meeting the other day the host of which was a master at buzzwords. “Lets double back on that and make sure it doesn’t fall off the radar.” “We need to work towards the proper synergy and create a paradigm shift.” After describing this to a friend he reminded me of the great meeting past time of buzzword bingo. With that in mind, I thought you need a comprehensive list of buzzwords. Rather than ask the meeting host to provide me the repository of buzzwords residing in his brain, I decided to go in search of the best on the web

Paradigm, synergy, “forward thinking”, double back”, strategize, “on (or off) the radar”, “leveraging our assets”, “low hanging fruit”, “link up”, “reach out to…”, “take it off-line”, “win-win”, “solution oriented”, “outcome based”, “results-driven”, “drill down”, “circle back”, empower, and of course the ever necessary “out of the box.”

So the next time you head to a meeting with “that guy”, be “forward thinking”, “leverage your assets” and make up a couple of buzzword bingo cards for you and your co-workers.