Dosensio

The Lean Architecture

Stefan Birrer — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:03:03 +0000

Adapting the Lean Startup principles to application architecture produces a few significant requirements. These requirements illustrate why some early design decisions may affect your business' ability to cope with the challenges during the early stage and later growth. Well-known and widely deployed application stacks help to quickly adapt to changing application requirements. Utilizing elastic platforms where the provider takes care of all issues involved with scaling helps avoid many problems.

Nexus One Unboxing Ninja Style

Stefan Birrer — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:01:35 +0000

Ninjas unbox the Nexus One. Hilarious...

The Elastic Cloud

Stefan Birrer — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:00:15 +0000

This might be the year where enterprises finally adopt cloud computing. Despite all the hype about software as a service (SaaS), little is written about how applications built using infrastructure as a service (IaaS) help Lean Startups avoid significant investments. While IaaS saves monetary investments in hardware and long-term hosting contracts, it also frees up valuable human resources used to setup and manage data center infrastructure. And when your user base finally grows, the elasticity of the cloud absorbs the additional load without creating sleepless nights and requiring urgent visits to the data center.

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

Stefan Birrer — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:00:35 +0000

Steve Jobs and Apple are known for astonishing product launches. Pictures and an emotionally charged experience effectively communicate the message to the audience. Behind the scenes, significant efforts and a drive for excellence produce these impressive presentations. The slides below shed some light on how Steve Jobs creates these presentations with the help of his team. Lessons [...]

The Lean Startup

Stefan Birrer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:34:32 +0000

The Lean Startup vision introduces a methodology for building a technology product. In short, a Lean Startup is a low-burn technology venture which combines the Customer Development methodology and an Agile Software Development methodology. Startups don’t fail because the technology doesn’t work. They fail because nobody wants what they are trying to build. Eric Ries Eric Ries and [...]

A New Day, A New Blog on Entrepreneurship and Software Technology

Stefan Birrer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:17:23 +0000

Being an entrepreneur for several years and building software technology for even longer, I take an interest in what makes teams successful in these fields. In this blog, I’ll share insights into being an entrepreneur and building software products both from my experience and from resources on the web and other channels. My hope is that while my [...]

Three Best Ways to Use Social Media

Willa Plank — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:29:14 +0000

How else can we say it: Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as tools to promote your services and products online. According to a recent survey of 148 private companies by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research, 43% say social media is "very important" to their business and marketing strategy, 52% are tweeting and 45% are blogging.
But don't feel pressured to jump in quickly and create a profile on every site. First, decide if it's right for your company. "Are you a social organization?" says Simon Salt, CEO of integrated marketing communications agency IncSlingers. "Everyone seems to know to have a Facebook page or a Twitter [account]. Is that what your business is about?"
For instance, a Facebook fan page probably doesn't make sense for a business-to-business outfit, says Neal Schaffer, author of "Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn." And companies that target older or retired customers might benefit more from direct-mail campaigns, or even knocks on doors. "Don't believe the hype," Schaffer says. "Understand what fits your business."
If you've decided to incorporate social media, remember that YouTube videos, blog posts and status updates are just a part of your entire marketing arsenal. Here are three best ways to use social media.
1.Stand out by trying less-crowded or up-and-coming social-media sites. Everyone knows about Facebook fan pages. But if you're a neighborhood business that relies on local clientele, you might want to consider Foursquare or Gowalla, which combine elements of other social-networking sites (Twitter, Facebook or Yelp) to help spread word of establishments and provide rewards to encourage customer loyalty. John Jantsch, author of "Duct Tape Marketing," suggests trying underutilized networks that cater to business owners, such as Biznik and BizSugar. If you're strapped for time, at least maintain a blog that provides good content and answers consumer questions, he says. Or create quick, educational YouTube videos that – along with a blog – are more likely to come up higher in keyword searches. Samir Balwani, contributor to social-media news blog Mashable, suggests creating your own social network at Elgg.org.
2.Don't expect instant sales, but make sure to get actual results. Social media is more about brand outreach. Make sure you have a reasonable goal and a well-thought out strategy to achieve that end. First, listen to what is being said about your business and competitors on Google alerts, RSS queries, Twitter, Yelp and BackType. Make sure you have your profile account names on all print communications you distribute, such as flyers and menus. Identify your biggest fans, and figure out how to organize them or point them out in some way. For example: On Twitter, if you know a person is a loyal customer, mention them in a post or announce a free service or product they've won for loyalty. Or reach out to other bloggers in your industry. Sarah Endline, founder of dark chocolate treat maker Sweetriot in New York, said she connected with blog site Hungry Girl and that lead to getting her company's name out and sales.
3. Don't forget social media is a tool to strengthen offline relationships. Many small businesses already have personal ties to customers in their communities, and these tools are designed to enhance those relationships, not replace them. For instance, you can use social-media tools such as YouTube to give customers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your company, or display more of your personality than you can through an ad. "It also allows you to show your culture," Endline says. "They're not just there to [see] a static promotion from you. They want value." And remember, a social network is "really a big room of people," author Schaffer says. Use it to "meet" potential clients or business partners, but make sure you follow up with an in-person meeting or phone conversation.
Write to Willa Plank at willa.plank@dowjones.com

10 Tips Troubleshooting Installations for SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint Foundation

Joel Oleson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:12:07 +0000

Installing beta software always has a few challenges. I’ve come across some good step by step instructions, which if you’re like the typical SharePoint person, you’ll refer to if you get stuck.

Here are some decent install references I found:

Ji Lie Installation Instructions and Warning (Must Read) (The comments on this one are really good.)

CJG: SharePoint 2010 - Step by Step Install (HyperV with Full SQL)

Microsoft (MSDN) for Win 7: Setting Up the Development Environment for SharePoint Server (Win 7 high level)

Faizal: Step by Step SharePoint 2010 Installation Guide (Standalone on VMware Workstation)

CodeProject: Step by Step SharePoint Server 2010 Installation ... (Standalone on VMware Workstation, good links to prerequisites)

Rather than repeat with my own step by step. Here are a few snags you might run into.

Ran into a few snags on a recent install:

1. Software and Hardware requirements for SharePoint 2010. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262485(office.14).aspx#section3 - Both Server and Foundation will fail to install if you don’t meet minimum requirements. I’ve noticed with RAM it often silently fails.

2. When trying to grab hofixes and updates off the web I found IE Hardening to be a burden. Here’s how to turn it off temporarily. Don’t forget to turn it back on for security.

Temporarily turn off the IE hardening also known as the Internet Explorer Enhanced Security. Note this is different in Windows Server 2008 from 2003. It’s no longer in components, it’s on the server summary page on the root of Service manager in the security information section.

“Unlike with previous versions of Windows Server--in which you could disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration by removing the component in Add/Remove Programs, Windows Components--the Windows Server 2008 implementation of Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration is configured through Server Manager.

Select the root of the Service Manager navigation pane, and under the Server Summary click Configure IE ESC, which is part of the Security Information section. A dialog box appears, letting Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration be enabled/disable separately for normal users and administrators.”

2. Ensure that the correct WCF updates are installed:

The SharePoint installer does not block install for an essential update for the Windows Communications Framework that SharePoint 2010 requires. Install the appropriate versions of the update from the locations below:

Win2k8 SP2: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=160770

Win2k8 R2: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=166231 (available Nov 22, 2009)

3. Error installing SQL after installing the prerequisites:

Kept running into an error where it kept choking on not being able to read a sqlcli[1].ini or sqlcli.ini. The issue was ultimately that I installed some SQL client tools prerequiste before installing SQL. Ironically I through the file name in search and came up with a German newsgroup which I translated, and then grabbed some installation issues article (see 3.1) which downloaded so I copied the text and then translated it.

German:

Beim Setup tritt möglicherweise ein Fehler und ein anschließendes Rollback auf, wobei folgende Fehlermeldung angezeigt wird: "Ein Installationspaket des Produkts Microsoft SQL Native Client konnte nicht gefunden werden. Wiederholen Sie die Installation unter Verwendung einer gültigen Kopie des Installationspakets 'sqlncli.msi'". Deinstallieren Sie SQL Native Client mithilfe der Option Software, um dieses Problem zu umgehen. In einem Cluster deinstallieren Sie SQL Native Client von allen Knoten. Führen Sie anschließend SQL Server-Setup erneut aus.

English:

“During Setup, you may experience a failure and a subsequent rollback, with the following error message: "An installation package for the product Microsoft SQL Native Client could not be found. Repeat the installation using a valid copy of the installation package 'sqlncli.msi'". Uninstall SQL Native Client by using Add or Remove Programs in order to circumvent this problem. In a cluster, uninstall SQL Native Client from all nodes. Then run SQL Server Setup again.”

Summary: It came from installing SQL Server 2008 Native Client before installing SQL Server 2008 SP1, uninstalling Native client tools fixed it and install succeeded.

4. Don’t MISS the Prerequisite installer!!! It will save you loads of time! Simply skipping and running setup will tell you to install the various packages. If you’re running with full SQL be sure to run the prerequisite installer after SQL is already installed if doing full on the same box. Simply clicking setup.exe will skip the prerequisite installer. You want to run the SharePoint%%.exe

5. Known issues: http://officebeta.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserverhelp/microsoft-office-servers-beta-2-known-issuesreadme-HA101267292.aspx#_Toc245608631

View the Known Issues/ReadMe

Make sure that your computer is connected to the Internet.

To display the Microsoft® SharePoint® Server 2010 Known Issues/ReadMe File, click here.

If Beta1 was installed on a machine, it needs to be repaved before installing Beta2.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee391660.aspx

6. Locating the Product Keys
Installation of the SharePoint Server 2010 Beta 2 requires one of the following product keys:

SharePoint Server 2010 Beta (Enterprise CAL features): PKXTJ-DCM9D-6MM3V-G86P8-MJ8CY
SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites Beta, Enterprise: BV7VC-RMR6B-26P6Y-BTQDG-DX2KQ

7. If you’re installing the Standalone you won’t hit this, but if it’s stand alone the prerequisites will pass, but fail when creating the config db: (Note you need a fix that’s in this CU, but you have to request it. In order to get around this, you can install the SQL 2008 R2 Nov CTP. *

SQL 2005 SP3 CU3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967909
SQL 2008 SP1 CU2
SQL needs to be 10.00.2714.00 from
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970315

* SQL 2008 R2 NOV CTP from Microsoft.com

8. If you are using SharePoint on DC, the following Windows PowerShell command would need to be run to enable Sandboxed Solutions.
$acl = Get-Acl HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName
$person = [System.Security.Principal.NTAccount]"Users"
$access = [System.Security.AccessControl.RegistryRights]::FullControl
$inheritance = [System.Security.AccessControl.InheritanceFlags]"ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit"
$propagation = [System.Security.AccessControl.PropagationFlags]::None
$type = [System.Security.AccessControl.AccessControlType]::Allow
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.RegistryAccessRule($person, $access, $inheritance, $propagation, $type)
$acl.AddAccessRule($rule)
Set-Acl HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName $acl

9. If you have problems with ASP.NET 3.5.1 Update

https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=23806&wa=wsignin1.0

10. Don’t forget to turn on Dev Dashboard

stsadm -o setproperty -pn developer-dashboard -pv OnDemand

SharePoint Survey

Stefan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:36:03 +0000

Best of SharePoint 2010

Andreas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:11:34 +0000

Matt Morse and Hersh Ajgaonkar of PointBridge provided a great overview of SharePoint 2010’s new features and improvements. Here are some the highlights: Office documents can be viewed and edited directly in the web browser without requiring the installation of any software on the client. Matt mentioned that this will also enable editing documents at the [...]