Pardon the Information

How to Play Magna Carta Holy Grail in Music Player

2013-07-07T17:53:00.001-06:00

Instructions for Samsung Galaxy S3:

Download the Magna Carta Holy Grail album from its Android app
Open the "My Files" app
Create a new folder with any name (e.g., Jayz) inside the "Music" folder
Select all of the Jay Z song files and "move" them to your new folder
Open the Music Player app, the album and songs should automatically be named correctly

How to download both clean and explicit versions:

After downloading the explicit version, uninstall the app
Reinstall the app
Register with whichever service you didn't use for the explicit download (e.g., Facebook or Twitter)
Select "clean" and download

Connecting HTC EVO Shift to Mac - Copy MP3 Files to Micro SD Card

2011-02-21T10:16:00.001-07:00

I received my new HTC EVO Shift on Friday and downloaded Radiohead's new album, The King of Limbs, on Saturday. I wanted to get the Radiohead album on my phone and was very disappointed to learn that HTC phones don't connect to Macs.

My recommended hack is to remove your phone's micro SD card and put it into a device that can be recognized by your Mac as a removable storage device. For me, that device is an Olympus STYLUS Tough-6000 digital camera. I successfully copied my Radiohead mp3 files to the root of my phone's micro SD card by connecting my camera to my Mac and, on my camera, selecting the "Storage" option instead of "MTP" (Media Transfer Protocol). I am now able to listen to Radiohead using my phone's "Music" application. What's more, I can assign individual Radiohead songs as ringtones...suh wheat dude.

Using 2-Step Verification with Google App Engine?

2011-02-21T09:49:00.002-07:00

I am using Google's new 2-step verification process for account authentication. Eclipse requires that I sign in with my Google username and password every time I deploy a web site from my computer to Google's servers. Since I am using 2-step verification and Eclipse doesn't store passwords, it looks like I need to generate a new application-specific password every time I want to deploy.

Update 5/4/2011

The Google App Engine deployment process now requires you to enter your Google Authenticator pass code once every 30 days and, thus, Google has solved the problem raised by this blog post.

Facebook Privacy Settings: Third-Party Apps, Location Sharing, Search Engines

2011-02-15T07:05:00.001-07:00

Every time I review my Facebook privacy settings I discover something new that is disturbing. New Facebook features come with a corresponding new privacy setting that is historically set to a value that makes your personal data open to all of your friends, third-party applications, and maybe even the public. The two most disturbing instances are third-party applications and location sharing. A little less disturbing is having a portion of your Facebook profile indexed by Google.

Third-Party Applications

There is a very disturbing default privacy setting which allows your friends to share your information with third-party Facebook applications and web sites. As a former developer of Facebook applications, I do not see any reason why you should let an application developed by a third-party (i.e., a non-Facebook company) have access to your information because once your information is in a third-party database then it will be very difficult to know if and when your information is procured by someone with bad intentions. Trusting Facebook with significant amounts of your personal information is one thing, but not knowing that your friends may be unintentionally sharing your information with a company other than Facebook is disturbing. I say unintentionally because when one of your friends uses a third-party Facebook application or web site, your friend does not know what queries the application is running against your profile behind the scenes. The third-party application can collect and store your information indefinitely and for no legitimate reason. Facebook policies state that third-party applications can only store your information in their database for a short period of time (i.e., ~24 hours), but I do not believe Facebook has an effective procedure for enforcing this policy.

I have my photos and videos set to only be viewable by my friends. It is possible that Facebook honors this request and denies third-party applications access to my photos and videos. However, the wording in their privacy settings does not give me confidence that this is the case. Therefore, I recommend denying third-party applications and web sites access to all of your information.

My recommended course of action:

In Facebook, go to Settings / Privacy Settings / Apps and Websites / and click "Edit Settings"
Click "Edit Settings" for "Info accessible through your friends"
Uncheck all of the check boxes seen in the subsequent picture and click "Save Changes"

This should ensure that your friends do not unintentionally share your personal information with third-party websites.

Location Sharing

Having your real-time location shared with people you don't know and/or people who you wouldn't want to know is scary and creepy. The primary method of Facebook learning your real-time location is via your cell phone so decline any requests from Facebook to do so. Another method is one of your friends can share your location by "checking you into Places". Needless to say, that is not good.

My recommended course of action:

In Facebook, go to Settings / Privacy Settings and click "Customize Settings"
Next to "Places I check in to", select "Only me"
Disable the following: 'Include me in "People Here Now" after I check in'
On the same page but under "Things others share", disable "Friends can check me in to Places".

Preventing Search Engines from Displaying your Facebook Profile

You can prevent your Facebook profile from showing up in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing by doing the following:

In Facebook, go to Settings / Privacy Settings / Apps and Websites / and click "Edit Settings"
Click "Edit Settings" next to "Public search"
Make sure "Enable public search" is unchecked. You may need to check and uncheck it a couple of times to make sure it is disabled.
You can test to make sure your profile is not viewable by search engines by copying your Facebook profile URL, logging out of Facebook, and pasting your profile URL into your browser's address bar. If done correctly, you should see the following:

New Twitter Tweet Button Passes Page Rank

2010-10-06T12:40:00.002-06:00

Twitter's new tweet button is now the most effective widget for sharing a web page on Twitter. It requires code similar to the following:

<a class='twitter-share-button' data-count='horizontal' data-via='rjmiller' href='http://twitter.com/share' >Tweet</a><script src='http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js' type='text/javascript'/>

Unfortunately (and unnecessarily), the generated Twitter code passes your site's search engine credibility (i.e., page rank) to Twitter because the "href" attribute links to a Twitter page. Instead, you can simply leave out the href attribute and add a name attribute. The other option is to add a rel="nofollow" attribute (also seen below).

<a class='twitter-share-button' data-count='horizontal' data-via='rjmiller' name='TweetButton' rel='nofollow'>Tweet</a><script src='http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js' type='text/javascript'/>

Java Servlet / JSP 301 and 302 Redirect Examples

2010-09-02T14:50:00.000-06:00

Permanent 301 Redirect - Used to indicate than an existing page has a new home. For example, redirect a request to your new domain.

response.setStatus(301);
response.setHeader( "Location", "http://www.example.com/" );
response.setHeader( "Connection", "close" );

Temporary 302 Redirect - Used to send requests to a different location which can be used to handle errors. For example, send someone to your home page when they type in a URL that does not exist on your site.

response.sendRedirect("/");

Twitter Retweet Button for Blogger - Code for TweetMeme Integration

2010-06-23T08:09:00.002-06:00

People who use Twitter like to share web pages. TweetMeme offers a super simple retweet button that can be installed on any web page, will shorten the web page's URL, and include your Twitter username in the retweet. Installing the retweet button in Blogger took a few minutes to figure out but the following is what I came up with to get the button to display below the title of a blog post; as seen on this blog:

From your Blogger Dashboard, click "Design"
Click "Edit HTML"
Click "Expand Widget Templates"; you may want to download a backup copy of your current HTML before proceeding to step 4
Search and find the following line of template code:
<h3 class='post-title entry-title'>
Add the following template code just before the closing </h3> tag:
<b:if cond='data:post.title'><br/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
tweetmeme_style = 'compact';
tweetmeme_source = 'rjmiller';
tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>';
</script><script src='http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</b:if>
Change "rjmiller" to be your Twitter username and your final code should look similar to:
<h3 class='post-title entry-title'>
     <b:if cond='data:post.link'>
       <a expr:href='data:post.link'><data:post.title/></a>
     <b:else/>
        <b:if cond='data:post.url'>
          <a expr:href='data:post.url'><data:post.title/></a>
        <b:else/>
          <data:post.title/>
        </b:if>
     </b:if>
     <b:if cond='data:post.title'><br/>
          <script type='text/javascript'>
              tweetmeme_style = 'compact';
              tweetmeme_source = 'rjmiller';
              tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>';
          </script><script src='http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</b:if>
</h3>
Click "Save Template" and then "View Blog"

The following is an example retweet of this blog post:

RT @rjmiller Twitter Retweet Button for Blogger - Code for TweetMeme Integration http://bit.ly/bahM59

Samsung Moment: Wi-Fi On + Wireless Off >> Google Android 2.1

2010-05-18T23:26:00.000-06:00

I have a Samsung Moment with the Google Android 2.1 upgrade. The following is a procedure my cousin taught me for disabling my cell phone's voice service while maintaining access to Wi-Fi networks:

Tap "Menu"
Tap "Settings"
Tap "Wireless & networks"
Turn on "Airplane mode"; which turns off "Wi-Fi"
Turn "Wi-Fi" on and leave "Airplane mode" on
Browse the Internet without wasting battery power searching for cell phone towers

Reasons to turn off wireless but turn on Wi-Fi

It is advantageous to disable your phone's wireless connections when you do not have access to cell phone service because your phone wastes battery power searching for cell phone towers; especially when it can't find any. In most situations, you turn off your phone. However, you may want to browse the Internet using your phone's Wi-Fi capabilities. For example, you are in a rural town with no cell service but are sitting in a cafe with free Wi-Fi. Or, you are in another country where your phone doesn't work but you would like to use your phone's Wi-Fi capabilities.

Related posts:

How to Copy / Paste with a Samsung Moment - Google Android 1.5

2010-05-12T10:38:00.003-06:00

Don't laugh but after six months I finally figured out to easily copy and paste with my Samsung Moment; running the Google Android 1.5 (cupcake) mobile operating system. I only recently became obsessed with figuring this out:

Tap "Menu"
Tap "More"
Tap "Select text"
Use your touchscreen to highlight text to copy
Go to an input text box on a web page, text message, email, or other
In the input text box, hold down your "optical joystick" or press on your touch screen until the "Paste" option is displayed
Press "Paste"

Pretty simple once you know how. It even allows you to paste from one application to another. For example, you can copy text on a web page and paste it into a text message or email. However, I do not know how to copy text from an email in the GMail application. Ideally, copying text would be as simple as swiping your finger across your touchscreen.

Do you know of any other Samsung Moment tips or tricks?

Related posts:

Twitter Phishing Scams: Reclaim a Hacked Account, Prevention Techniques

2010-03-02T13:43:00.001-07:00

Periodically, I get emails from Twitter referencing direct messages from someone I am following and that include a link to a phishing scam. A phishing scam is an illegitimate web site, or in this case, an illegitimate Twitter application that tricks you into giving it your username and password. I was fooled once by a Twitter phishing scam but quickly realized what happened and changed my password. Phishing scams are more malicious than Twitter spammers because Twitter spammers are typically only marketing a web site or service and not trying to steal your password.

Examples of phishing scams I have seen include "somebody wrote something about you in this blog here (insert phishing link)":

"This you???? (insert phishing link)":

Your Twitter account can be hacked by having your username and password compromised in one of three ways:

A third party Twitter application not using OAuth failed to protect your log-in credentials. *OAuth is a technology that allows you to log-in into a third party Twitter application without giving the third party application your Twitter password.
You were fooled by a phishing scam; phishing links use the same tiny URL redirects that are used for many links on Twitter.
Your password was weak and was guessed by a hacker or hacker software.

You can reclaim control of your account by changing your password to something stronger and revoking access given to third party Twitter applications. You can fight phishing scams and prevent future outbreaks by checking your direct messages sent folder to see if there any illegitimate messages being sent from your account. In addition, you can notify others who have unknowingly sent you phishing scam direct messages. In sum, beware of any links received via a direct message and consider only using third party Twitter applications that employ OAuth. There are more suggestions that can be found on Twitter's support pages.

Update 05/12/2010

I can't remember the last time I received a phishing scam message from Twitter so they must be doing a better job combating scams.

MacBook Pro iPhoto Running Slow - Install More Memory

2010-02-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

For about 2 1/2 years, I have had MacBook Pro running Mac OS 10.4.11 with a 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Over time, it seemed liked my MacBook was struggling more and more with running multiple applications so I uninstalled and turned off as many unnecessary programs as possible; including turning off all dashboard widgets.

Most consistently, I would get a spinning ball of death every time I opened iPhoto while also running Firefox; which made it really difficult to blog about hiking trails. I thought the problem was due to having a large number of photos and videos for iPhoto to manage so I tinkered with its settings to no avail. I was unable to find anything in the Apple forums to suggest that my problem was caused by iPhoto. In addition, my Activity Monitor reported iPhoto as using a normal amount of memory. As it turns out, the solution was simply to install an additional 2 GB of memory ($100); putting my total to 3 GB. My MacBook has been running smooth ever since; even with multiple programs open at once: Firefox, iPhoto, Safari, iTunes, and Seashore (image editing software).

TurboTax 2009 Online Taxes - Colorado Part Year Not Working, Use Software Download

2010-02-15T12:19:00.003-07:00

TurboTax is Better Than Filing by Hand

In March 2003, my wife and I jointly filed our taxes with wages coming from W-2s, work as independent contractors, and two different states. It took me a month's worth of evenings to figure out and complete by hand the Form 1040, Schedule C, state forms, and other forms. Many line items on the Form 1040 reference other documents, forms, and worksheets so going line by line as non-tax professional was slow and stressful. We have been using TurboTax's online tax filing service since and have enjoyed its low-stress, easy-to-use wizard system.

Colorado Part Year Not Working

We spent half of 2009 in Colorado and half in Virginia. As of Saturday February 13th, the online service of TurboTax Home & Business was unable to correctly manage our Colorado Part Year Resident tax filing status. Instead, it treated us as a full year residents of Colorado and was including our Virginia wages in our Colorado taxable income. The solution to our problem was to download the PC/Mac edition of TurboTax Home & Business. A TurboTax customer service representative provided us with a free download after he spent two hours on the phone trying to figure out why the Colorado Part Year was not working online.

The good news was that the download edition worked but the bad news was that I had to reenter all of our information. Reentering our information was especially painful because state taxes is the last thing that gets entered so I had to reenter our personal profile, home business, personal W-2s, personal deductions, Virginia states taxes, and Colorado state taxes.

Choose Download over Online Service

I highly recommend the download edition of TurboTax over the online service for the following reasons:

View forms - The download edition allows you to view the tax forms that ultimately get submitted so you can find out the deeper context of the questions TurboTax asks. In addition, it allows you to bypass the TurboTax questions and make changes directly on the forms.
Increased speed - The download edition runs faster than the online service (depending on the speed of your Internet connection). Further, the download software does not log you out after 20 minutes of inactivity so you can take breaks without having to spend a couple of minutes signing in online.
Includes all of the online features (expect requires payment at download) - The downloaded software asks questions, files taxes electronically, and pays taxes in the same way as the online service. The only difference is that you have to prepay for the PC/Mac download (or CD) whereas the online service is free until you file; which leads me to my next reason...
Downloaded software cannot import online data - The downloaded software is more sophisticated than the online service but it does not allow you to import your online data and, thus, you want to start with the download software. For example, I spent a week using the online service only to find out that I needed to use the downloaded software; which resulted in me having to manually reenter all of our information.

The download edition is more expensive than the online service but for me the time-saving benefits would have greatly outweighed the additional cost.

Google App Engine for Java - 3 Tips for Getting Started

2009-06-12T07:58:00.001-06:00

Google announced an early look at Google App Engine for Java on April 7th and I have been using it ever since. Google App Engine for Java is a web application hosting service provided by Google and designed for services that expect rapid growth and, thus, it is ideal for applications that aspire to need a scalable infrastructure.

In an attempt to be a recession proof Java programmer, I created a new niche microblogging service, http://m.TwoKnobbyTires.com, for outdoor enthusiasts, fans of pro sports, and fans of college sports. It runs on Google App Engine for Java and I hope that someday it will warrant the scalable infrastructure that App Engine provides ;). My microblogging service uses Google Accounts for authentication, App Engine's email service, and the default open source JDO implementation provided by DataNucleus. The following is a getting started guide for programmers considering Google App Engine for Java. For more details about Google App Engine, read Google App Engine For Java - A Microblogging Case Study.

Start with a new application - App Engine for Java does not support the full Java specification nor all of the frameworks that run on the Java platform. For example, it supports JSTL (allegedly), Java Servlets, and JSPs but does not fully support Struts 2, JDBC, JSF, Hibernate, and EJB. Thus, it is best to start with a new application rather than attempt to port over an existing application that may have compatibility issues. My service runs using plain old Servlets and JSPs; plus Servlet Filters are employed for site wide tasks like pre-loading user data and closing database connections.
Acclimate to Google's non-relational data store - Google's database is non-relational which was a challenge for me since I have only worked with relational databases (e.g., Oracle, MySQL) . Specifically, Google's database is an object datastore without a schema which means that join queries are not supported and the responsibility for data integrity lies within your code. Some of the data integrity responsibility can be managed by JDO or JPA in the form of one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many relationships. However, I needed to manage some of my object relationships and queries outside of JDO because the JDO annotations plus Google datastore limit the number of relationships an object can have. My application is still experiencing random DatastoreTimeoutExceptions and I have not figured out whether my database is poorly designed or if Google's datastore has been experiencing hiccups in service.
Automate tests - I used Fitnesse to automate HTML tests for web pages and XML tests for RSS feeds. Automated tests are a good idea regardless of your hosting service but in the case of Google App Engine for Java, there are two good reasons to automate tests:
1. Auto generate the datastore index file - Your App Engine database on Google's servers requires a datastore index for every query your application needs to run. The easiest way to generate a datastore index file is to let the Eclipse plugin do it for you. Specifically, run every query in your development environment by using automated tests to trigger them and the Eclipse plugin will update the datastore index file after each query execution. Letting the Eclipse plugin generate the datastore index file is easier and less error prone than writing a datastore index file by hand.
2. Quickly adapt to internal redesigns and platform changes - I redesigned the internals of my application several times during the process of adjusting to Google's non-relational datastore. In addition, the Google App Engine for Java platform and service are still under active development. Thus, it is important to create an automated testing suite that can provide rapid feedback on the health of your software so you can quickly and confidently adapt to both internal changes (i.e., your need to redesign to support new features) and external changes (i.e., Google's updating of the App Engine platform).

Retrospective

In the past, I compared Java vs. Ruby on Rails and my analysis ended in a tie. I believe that Google App Engine for Java tips the scales back in Java's favor because it solves Java's biggest long-term problem: a lack of affordable, scalable hosting for entrepreneurs. However, I am not convinced that Google App Engine for Java is enterprise ready because there are still too many unsupported Java APIs and frameworks.

Netflix Instant Queue - On Demand Movies

2009-05-11T15:30:00.003-06:00

Netflix.com has created an Instant queue to complement its late fees-free DVD queue. Netflix's Instant queue streams a subset of the Netflix movie collection over the Internet for instant viewing at any time and without delay. We watch movies from Netflix's Instant queue by connecting our MacBook to our LCD TV using Apple's DVI to Video Adapter and Apple's Audio Adapter. Blockbuster.com offers a similar movie download service but it is not compatible with Mac computers. The following are features that make Netflix's Instant queue compelling.

No movie previews - Watching a movie from your Netflix Instant Queue is about as instantaneous as it gets because the movie automatically starts and does not include any previews.
Pause for a break - Pause a movie or close your web browser and Netflix returns you to the last viewed scene.
Try movies with no commitment - Netflix's Instant queue is ideal for watching obscure movies and TV shows because there is nothing lost if you do not finish the movie or show. On the other hand, a poor movie choice in your DVD queue results in a two day wait while that movie is being replaced.
No added cost - The Netflix Instant queue comes with no additional cost and is available on most of their monthly subscription plans.
Reduce clutter of depreciating DVDs - DVDs are steadily losing their value with the advent of Blu-Ray discs and online movie downloads. What's more, Blu-Ray discs are likely to lose their value once online movie downloads provide HD quality. Thus, using an online movie service means you will not be collecting a set of rapidly depreciating DVDs and Blu-Ray discs nor paying for an expensive Blu-Ray player.

Blu-Ray discs should do well for a little while because online movie downloads still have some limitations. The following are limitations of Netflix's Instant queue.

Limited selection - Netflix's Instant queue only includes a small subset of its DVD library. Most of the movies available for instant viewing are a year old or older. So far, the redeeming selection of the Instant queue has been the availability of all four seasons of The Office.
Reduced picture quality - Our Internet connection allows us to watch movies from Netflix's Instant queue at Netflix's highest quality resolution. However, the picture quality is less than what is experienced with a DVD or Blu-Ray disc. Specifically, the reduced picture quality becomes a factor for fast-moving action movies but is less noticeable for comedies and dramas.
No special features - Instantly downloaded movies do not include director commentary, deleted scenes, subtitles, or any other bonus features typically found on a DVD.
Connecting your computer to the Internet can be expensive - Netflix streams online movies via devices like Xbox 360 and TiVo. However, those devices are expensive and connecting your existing computer to the Internet can be complicated and/or expensive too.

In sum, Netflix's Instant queue is worth a try if you can easily connect your TV to the Internet and, especially, if you are interested in watching episodes of The Office.

#Twitter Spam is Tweeting Me Off

2009-04-01T09:47:00.005-06:00

As of late, Twitter spam is tweeting (i.e., pissing) me off enough to get me out of my technology blogging hibernation.

What is Twitter Spam?

My three criteria:

A notification e-mail from Twitter that someone new is "following" your tweets (i.e., your status updates)
The someone new is only "following" you to promote their business
The someone new's business has nothing to do with anything you have ever tweeted (i.e., unwanted communication)

Twitter spam is not a "direct message" from another Twitter user because another user can only send you a "direct message" if you "follow" them and, thus, you can easily control who is able to send you direct messages.

I consider myself a passive Twitter user such that I only follow people that follow me and I only initiate a "following" connection with someone who is tweeting about similar topics. For example, I blog about Colorado trails and use my Two Knobby Tires Twitter profile to connect with people interested hiking, mountain biking, or outdoor gear retail. Up until recently, my experience has been positive including connecting with new people that share similar interests (e.g., Leave No Trace, mountain biking, outdoor gear products).

Spam Life Cycle

In the early days of e-mail, spam was not a problem because e-mail was not heavily used. However, as e-mail became more popular the opportunity to spam people for profit became larger. E-mail spam was a nightmare before e-mail services (e.g., Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail) became good at blocking it. Twitter appears to be going through a similar life cycle:

Low usage = limited spam
Mainstream popularity = increased opportunity for profit
Spam escalates
Twitter develops software intelligence to slow down spammers (losing the battle right now)
Spam shrinks but never completely goes away

Twitter Spam vs. E-mail Spam

Twitter spam is not as annoying as e-mail spam once was; at least not yet. Similarities and differences of Twitter spam and e-mail spam are as follows:

Twitter spam originates from a Twitter profile -E-mail spam can originate from anybody with access to an e-mail account and/or e-mail server whereas Twitter spam can only originate from someone's Twitter profile. Thus, it should be easier to identify Twitter spammers since Twitter should be able limit the rapid creation of spamming Twitter accounts.
Twitter spam is somewhat solicited - E-mail spam is completely unsolicited because you are getting a communication from someone who should never have had access to your e-mail address. However, having a public Twitter profile puts you at risk of receiving unwanted communication because you are choosing to give the public access to you. Specifically, having a public Twitter account is a choice you can make whereas most people receiving e-mail spam want their e-mail to be 100% private.

Obvious Spammers vs. Shrewd Spammers

Obvious spammers - Obvious spammers have a limited Twitter history, a rapidly increasing number of people they are following, and are pushing an unwanted product or service. Twitter shuts down accounts that have received hundreds of "block" requests from frustrated users. For example, the following Twitter spammers have been shutdown: http://twitter.com/Nelly546, http://twitter.com/JohnM101, and http://twitter.com/Jason720 because they were following people at a rapid rate and frustrated users like myself were blocking those Twitter accounts.

Shrewd spammers - A shrewd Twitter spammer puts up a nice facade (i.e., fancy web site) and is less aggressive so that Twitter and other Twitter users do not realize that they are a spammer. For example, I have been too lazy to "block" these Twitter profiles: http://twitter.com/valhallabiz, http://twitter.com/mileso, and http://twitter.com/comfortinnfc. Their "following" to "follower" ratios are unbalanced (2:1 or worse) which means more people will be receiving spam from them. The enablers of shrewd spammers are those that get in the habit of "following" Twitter users that follow them because they want to be nice and return the favor. It is in our human nature to return the favor (i.e, reciprocate). I am guilty of this and I am sure others are too. Unfortunately, reciprocating with a shrewd Twitter spammer legitimizes their presence and enables them to spam more people.

Solution - Software Intelligence

Twitter administration - Twitter allows users to configure which Twitter events (e.g., new followers, direct messages) trigger an e-mail to their e-mail address. In addition, Twitter lets users make their profiles private such that unapproved people cannot follow their twittering. However, neither of these configuration options solve my problem because I want to be notified when someone new follows me and I want to share my tweets publicly so I can connect with new people.

Solution - I think the next step is for Twitter to prevent accounts with an unbalanced "following" to "follower" ratio from "following" new people until their "following" to "follower" ratio becomes more balanced. Benevolent Twitter users should not have to spend energy "blocking" spammers or waste time being fooled by shrewd spammers. In sum Twitter's appeal is diminishing with each new spammer and I hope Twitter can solve the problem before it gets worse.

Google Friend Connect on Blogger

2008-12-02T14:55:00.003-07:00

Today, I was given access to add Google Friend Connect widgets to my blogs and other sites. I use Blogger for my blogs and was initially concerned that I would not be able to complete step 2 in the setup process because it requires that you upload two files to the root directory of your web site; something Blogger does not support. However, my Blogger blogs already contained the required two files which can be explained by the fact that Google owns Blogger.

Google Friend Connect Widgets

I added three Google Friend Connect widgets: the members widget, wall widget, and review widget; all of which can be seen in this blog's right sidebar. As you can see, a point of confusion is that the members widget is different than the followers widget. What is the difference between members and followers? From what I can deduce, members are allowed to write wall comments and reviews while followers are not allowed to do so. In addition, a follower is following using their Blogger profile while a member has joined the Google Friend Connect network using a Google Friend Connect-specific profile.

The members widget applies to an entire site but the wall and review widgets can be applied to the entire site or to individual pages. Currently, my wall and review widgets apply to the entire site. Although, of the two, the review widget would be better suited as a per post widget.

Google Friend Connect Administration

The Google Friend Connect administrative tools provide the ability to view membership reports, moderate comments and reviews, and assign administrators. Overall, Google Friend Connect is easy to install and manage since there is not much too it. Finally, it will be interesting to learn whether or not Google Friend Connect widgets improve reader engagement and interaction.

Update 5/18/2010

I have removed the Google Friend Connect widgets from this blog because they reduce page speed as reported by Google Webmaster Tools and the Google Page Speed tool.

Recession Proof Java Programmers

2008-11-22T16:11:00.002-07:00

For the purpose of being recession proof, Java programmers should diversify what they spend their time learning. Specifically, Java programmers should add business topics to their learning diet.

My Learning Diet Backstory

Before starting my Crosby MBA Program two and half years ago, I was an avid Java programmer with an intense appetite for technology knowledge. I spent a lot of time reading Java newsletters and articles from sites such as the Java.net (even wrote a couple articles), TheServerSide.com, and JavaWorld.com. In addition, I earned four Sun Java Certifications and attended the JavaOne technology conference from 2004 to 2006. I focused on learning about new frameworks (e.g., Apache projects), APIs, and methodologies (e.g., Agile, XP). I was so engrossed in the learning things to help me be a better programmer that I could not have told you whether the company I worked for was going to achieve long-term profitability or how much my programmer team contributed to its profits. On the other hand, recession proof programmers have a pulse on both technology and business.

Recession Proof Learning for Java Programmers

Recession proof learning includes a mix of technology and business such that an understanding of industry trends and profitability can be gained. If you are a technology-only learner like I was before, then I recommend easing yourself into business with the subsequent action items.

Start with TechCrunch - Subscribing to TechCrunch's e-mail should be an easy thing for any Java programmer to do since it is solely concerned with business news within technology industries. Particularly, TechCrunch generates a steady stream of comprehensive news and reviews from a broad range of tech industries. I recommend skimming TechCrunch's daily e-mail to read only what is of interest. As time passes, you can begin to build a sense of which tech industries are hot, cold, and saturated (i.e., highly competitive).
Listen to WSJ Podcasts - The Wall Street Journal What's News and Tech News Briefing are three to six minute podcasts that can expose you to industry news and trends that you would not be exposed to otherwise. For example, you can learn which companies and industries are failing due to the recession and, thus, plan a job change to a different industry before your company fails.
Review the most profitable industries - I advocate reading Fortune 500's most profitable industries on an annual basis. The 2008 list of most profitable industries (from end of year 2007 data) was lead by Network and Other Communications Equipment, Mining/ Crude-Oil Production, and Pharmaceuticals. Working in an industry that is among the most profitable is an excellent strategy for increasing job security. Important questions to ask yourself are: what industry is my company competing in? Is the industry trending towards an increase or decrease in profitability? Is the industry growing such that there is room for new companies to make a profit without incurring tough competition from established companies?

Benefits of Business Learning

Benefits I have experienced from following business news and trends include the following.

Business news stimulates ideas - A great way to get your creative and entrepreneurial juices flowing is to hear about what other entrepreneurs are doing, why some are successful, and why others fail.
Visualize your career path - Having a pulse on your industry and other industries can help you plan career moves. In the short-term, it can give you a better understanding what is affecting the profitability of your current employer.
Identify new opportunities - Subscribing to industry news and trends can put you in position to pounce on new opportunities. For example, in summer 2007, Facebook released the Facebook Platform allowing developers to build applications inside Facebook. Programmers that acted quickly experienced success while slow movers got lost in the shuffle. The same thing is now happening with mobile platforms. For example, developers can earn money developing applications for the iPhone that are sold at Apple's iPhone App Store or for Google's Android platform in the Android Marketplace. Success in these evolving markets requires continual monitoring so you can understand their market size and potential.

In sum, diversifying your knowledge can reduce your risk of unemployment and, thus, improve your chances of being a recession proof Java programmer.

How do you get your technology and business news? Which topics do you follow?

SWOT Analysis - Yahoo!'s Future Looks...

2008-11-12T13:14:00.005-07:00

Yahoo! is one of the oldest and largest Internet companies in the world. In the last year, TechCrunch has been chronicling Yahoo!'s management and merger issues. Interested in understanding Yahoo!'s situation from a long-term perspective, I have illustrated the profitability of the industry and performed a SWOT Analysis to generate strategies for Yahoo!'s management team.

Profitability of the Industry

According the CNN's Fortune 500 magazine, Yahoo! is in the Internet Services and Retail industry which is comprised of Amazon, Google, Liberty Media, IAC/InterActiveCorp, eBay, Sabre Holdings, and Expedia. In 2007, the Internet Service and Retail industry experienced a 7.0% return on revenues (i.e., efficiency of operations), a 5.0% return on assets (i.e., productivity of assets), and an 8.9% return on equity (i.e., power of equity). In 2007, Yahoo! operated near the industry average profitability with a 9.5% return on revenues, 5.4% return on assets, and 6.9% return on equity. In 2007, its main competitor, Google, led the industry with a 25.3% return on revenues and 16.6% return on assets, and was the industry runner up with a 18.5% return on equity. The following chart illustrates the recent trend in industry profitability with data from 2005, 2006, 2007. Specifically, the following chart shows that Yahoo!'s profitability has declined at the same pace as the industry's decline in profitability while Google's profitability has remained consistently strong. Further, Yahoo!'s profitability peaked in 2005 because their profitability in 2003 and 2004 was similar to their profitability in 2006 and 2007.

Yahoo!'s Stock Chart

The following stock chart shows how Yahoo!'s stock has been plummeting in recent months and, particularly, why a SWOT analysis is needed :)

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Compete.com's Monthly Unique Visitors

Interestingly, as Yahoo!'s stock price has plummeted, its monthly unique visitors has remained steady with that of Google's monthly unique visitors. Further, Yahoo!'s 11/7/2008 Form 10-Q shows that their 2008 revenues are similar to their 2007 revenues but that their operating expenses have increased. Thus, Yahoo!'s stock price is correlated more with investor expectations of future profitability than it is with Yahoo!'s current usage and revenues.

Yahoo! SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is a brainstorming exercise to generate strategies that use internal strengths to maximize external opportunities, use strengths to minimize threats, minimize weaknesses by taking advantage of opportunities, and minimize weaknesses and threats.

Internal Strengths

Affiliate partnerships with eBay, WebMD, Cars.com, Forbes.com, and the Newspaper Consortium
Globally recognized brand
Expansive Internet properties and ad network that includes Yahoo! Mail, My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Search, and Flickr
2.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents
Copyrights, patents, and trademarks
Developer APIs allow entrepreneurs to create mash-ups

Internal Weaknesses

Management attrition
Anti-takeover provisions make a third-party acquisition more difficult
Less experience in managing a search service than competitors
Weak blog and social network platform (i.e., Yahoo! 360)
Outsourcing of data centers, data providers, and streaming content providers

External Opportunities

Acquisitions of smaller technology companies including ad networks, social networks, and content providers
Be acquired to create new synergies
Internet usage on mobile phones is increasing
Online video is growing
Social networks are growing in usage but have are not as profitable as search engines

External Threats

Recession causes a reduction in online advertising spending - most Yahoo! ad contracts are on per click basis or limited to one year in duration; in addition, search volumes can decline at any time
Converging technologies and fierce competition from Google, Microsoft, and AOL
Device and platform freeze out - for example, Google's Android mobile platform and Window's Internet Explorer encourage users to use their Internet services instead of Yahoo! services
Traditional media companies are increasing competition for advertising dollars because they are putting more focus on online revenue (e.g., Disney, CBS, and NBC)
U.S. and foreign government regulation of Internet, mobile, and Voice over Internet Protocol
Network Neutrality ends and Yahoo! is required to pay usage fees to Comcast, AT&T, or Verizon
Click fraud

Recommendations

The profitability of the industry is declining so Yahoo! needs to realign its strategies to regain investor confidence. The future for Yahoo! looks bright, considering how bleak things look now.

Use Internal Strengths to Maximize External Opportunities

Use 2.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents (strength #4) to buy Automattic, the makers of the blogging platform WordPress (opportunity #1 + weakness #4)
Use it affiliate partnerships (strength #1) to deliver ads on mobile phones (opportunity #3)
Use it affiliate partnerships (strength #1) to deliver ads on new social networks like MyYearBook.com (opportunity #5)

Use Strengths to Minimize Threats

Partner with Sprint whose CEO recently dissed Android (opportunity #3) to become the default services for mail, search, maps, and photos on Sprint phones (strength #3) and, thus, minimize device free out (threat #3)

Minimize Weaknesses by Taking Advantage of Opportunities

Acquire promising start-ups and their leaders (opportunity #1) to assemble a new senior leadership team (weakness #1)

Minimize Weaknesses and Threats

Remove anti-takeover provisions (weakness #2) to facilitate an acquisition (opportunity #2)
Partner with traditional media companies (threat #4) to deliver video content (opportunity #4) and social networking features (opportunity #5)
Use 2.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents (strength #4) to acquire third-party data centers, data providers, and streaming content providers (weakness #5)

Resources

Yahoo! Investor Relations
CNN's Fortune 500 Top Industries (2008)
CNN's Fortune 500 Top Industries (2007)
CNN's Fortune 500 Top Industries (2006)

SocialMedian - Digg's Feisty Little Brother

2008-10-30T09:37:00.005-06:00

I think of SocialMedian as Digg's feisty little brother because it allows you to import your Digg submissions and, thus, in a sense, is like the little brother that copies what the big brother says but also has more to say. SocialMedian is more than that so I analyzed it in more depth...

Differences between Digg and SocialMedian

Like Digg, SocialMedian is a social news sharing site where users submit what they consider to be interesting news articles and blog posts. Popular submissions are voted to the top of the list for all to see. Unlike Digg and more like Twitter, SocialMedian encourages strangers with similar interests to follow each other stories; "newsmaker" is SocialMedian's term for people whose submitted stories you subscribe to. Theoretically, SocialMedian provides a more personlized news viewing experience than does Digg. However, from a competitive standpoint, Digg could probably implement SocialMedian's features pretty easily.

Things I like About SocialMedian

My favorite feature is the ability to configure SocialMedian to automatically import your Digg submissions. This allows me to digg something once and have it recorded on two news sites. In addition, SocialMedian can be configured to automatically clip posts from your blog. This automation allows you to spend more time voting for other peoples submissions because you spend less time submitting your discovered content. Even though the aforementioned automation increases the amount of content on SocialMedian, the automation can reduce the need for users to visit SocialMedian's site. In sum, these features are great for blog marketing because they can increase a blog's exposure with little ongoing work.

SocialMedian's Election Coverage

Yesterday, SocialMedian launched an Election 2008 News Feed. Digg also has a an election news feed but SocialMedian's election news feed is populated automatically from its users accounts on Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube; along side user blog posts and user submitted stories. Currently, Digg has more interesting submissions but that is expected since its user base is exponentially larger. In sum, SocialMedian is worth checking out because it provides an opportunity to interact with others with similar interests, as opposed to getting lost in Digg's mammoth user base.

LinkedIn Applications - Blog Link, Reading List, Company Buzz

2008-10-30T00:00:00.005-06:00

LinkedIn is a social network for professionals and serves as an online address book for your business contacts. It is especially useful for graduating MBA students who want to keep in touch with their classmates or transient workers who want to remain connected to former co-workers. LinkedIn is likely to grow in popularity considering the downturn in the economy and, specifically, because of the growing number of people seeking employment.

In a stable economy, the main premise of LinkedIn is that by creating and sharing your resume online, some day you will be presented with an opportunity for a new job, new business deal, new client, or other serendipitous event that you would have otherwise not experienced had you not been on LinkedIn. I have yet to experience a serendipitous event on LinkedIn but am still holding out hope that it may happen someday.

Since LinkedIn tugs at the ambitious bones in your body, it is probably not very intriguing to someone content in their current employment. However, LinkedIn has recently expanded beyond being a simple business address book and into a more interactive experience. For example, LinkedIn Groups facilities communication among college alumni, corporate associates, or others. Further, LinkedIn's latest announcement is of their new application directory which is a long time coming and worthy of analysis.

LinkedIn Application Directory

Unlike the social networks Facebook and MySpace, LinkedIn is more about business than fun. However, that is all about to change with the release of the LinkedIn Application Directory. The applications are developed by LinkedIn or by a big company like Google, WordPress, or Typepad. Thus, it appears that the LinkedIn application directory is going to be tightly managed by LinkedIn and not open to random developers like the applications of Facebook and MySpace. A benefit of a tightly managed application directory is that users will not be harassed by silly or spammy applications. The following are the LinkedIn applications that are most interesting:

Blog Link - By installing this application, you can view blog posts written by people in your list of contacts. In addition, the application automatically syndicates your blog posts on your public profile and to contacts that are also using Blog Link. However, your blog(s) must be designated as a "Blog" in your profile's list of websites for this application to syndicate blog posts.
Reading List by Amazon - Share your favorite books with your LinkedIn contacts. Seems like a great way to learn about good books related to your industry or interests.
Company Buzz - Sounds intriguing but was experiencing technical difficulties when I tried to add it to my profile. It was advertised as a service that tracks twitter comments about your company.

I have yet to figure out how to go to a specific application without first going to the application directory. Another note, changes made to your profile take at least 15 minutes to be displayed on your public profile and, thus, are not viewable in real time.

Electronic Voting Machines - In Need of Refinement

2008-10-23T14:31:00.009-06:00

Today, I voted early in Fort Collins, Colorado for the 2008 presidential election, state senators, state judges, state amendments, and county amendments. I chose to vote using an electronic voting machine instead of choosing to vote using a paper ballot. At my polling location, the following are the disappointments I experienced during the electronic voting process:

Having to stand is bad - Standing takes more energy and, thus, provides an incentive to not vote on all the candidates, judges, and amendments.
The height of the electronic voting machine does not adjust - I am 5'10" and had to stand for 15 minutes with my head down and neck bent in order to carefully read the state amendments. People taller than me would certainly have more issues with the height of the electronic voting machine. Which brings up a another point, I recommend pre-reading your state's amendments to expedite the process.
Only two electronic voting machines - There were 30-50 paper voting booths but only two electronic voting machines and, thus, people had to wait in line if they wanted to vote electronically. In this day and age, it seems like electronic voting would be the preferred mechanism with limited paper voting provided for people not comfortable with computers.

Providing seating for electronic voting machines would solve issues 1 and 2. Characteristics of the electronic voting machine that worked well included:

Touchscreen was easy to use - Colorado's touchscreen system was easy to use and navigate.
Prevents mistakes - The computer does not let you incorrectly cast a vote for two candidates running for the same office (i.e., vote for both McCain and Obama). In addition, correcting a mistake is as simple as hitting the back button or clicking on a vote mark to un-mark it.
Computers should result in less mistakes - I would like to believe that using a computer to vote increases the accuracy with which my votes are recorded and tallied.

The following picture was taken with my cell phone's low quality camera and shows the electronic voting machine that I used to vote. What is your preferred method of voting: paper or electronic?

Blog Comparison - Blogger vs. WordPress vs. TypePad

2008-10-03T14:15:00.003-06:00

Choosing Blogger (a Google service) as your blogging platform is an easy decision for newbie bloggers and a tough decision for experienced/professional bloggers. I prefer Blogger over TypePad and WordPress. The following are my reasons for choosing Blogger:

Fast search engine indexing - New blog posts show up in Google's Blog Search results within minutes. This is especially important for bloggers blogging about hot news topics like politics and celebrities.
Usability - Easy to write and format text and to upload pictures and videos. Blogger has a really low barrier to entry for new bloggers and does not require much prior experience with internet tools. If you know how to use an e-mail client like Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, or Gmail then you can definitely use Blogger. It should be noted that the WordPress's free service is now competing with Blogger on low barrier to entry.
Interact with readers - The are a lot of people (I could not find exact #) with a Google or Gmail account, each of which can easily comment on a Blogger blog post or participate in Blogger's social features without having to login with a separate account. For example, Google's (i.e., Blogger's) new follower gadget allows readers to publicly display their affinity for your blog. On the other hand, many advanced WordPress blogs require that you create a new account with that blog specifically for the purpose of commenting on that blog. Typepad mitigates this issue with their TypeKey authentication service, which is similar to OpenId.
It is free and fast - In similar fashion to WordPress's basic service, Blogger does not charge hosting or subscription costs. Further, Blogger's page load times have been consistently fast.
Multiple authors - Blogger and WordPress allow you to have mutliple authors per blog, free of charge.

Features that I wish Blogger had that TypePad, WordPress, and others do have:

Post previews on blog home page - Give readers the ability to quickly scan the blog home page to see several recent blog posts by splitting posts so that only a post's first paragragh shows up on the home page.
Customization of blog post title and meta tags - Blogger does not let you customize a blog post's title and meta tags which is really important for SEO.
Labels have limited SEO value - Blogger blogs' robot.txt file tell search engines to not index all URLs starting with "/search". Specifically, the labels in a label's sidebar widget are not indexed by search engines. If they were indexed by search engines, they would be a great way to associate a myriad of keywords to your blog posts. Other blogging platforms serve this SEO purpose with the use of categories and tags. My solution as a Blogger blogger is to create HTML sidebar widgets with lists of keyword phrases with each keyword phrase linking to a blog post. See this blog's sidebar's three "Most Read..." sections, or, for a better example see the sidebar of Two Knobby Tires Guide to Colorado Hiking, Biking, and Camping. Similarly, I do not think that Blogger's archive widget adds any SEO value so I configure it to be a drop-down menu that does not expose the archive URLs to search engines robots.

The subsequent chart shows unique visitors (in millions) for Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad:

Which blogging platform do you prefer and why?

Biggest Long-Term Problem for Java

2008-09-12T09:32:00.015-06:00

Java's biggest long-term problem is that it is not the technology of choice for entrepreneurs. Specifically, entrepreneurs have greater incentives to choose simpler and more inexpensive technologies like PHP, Ruby on Rails, and Python. Java was very entrepreneurial 10+ years ago when it came on the technology scene because it opened new doors for programmers. Since that time, Java has expanded and matured into the technology of choice for many enterprises (i.e., medium to large organizations). In an attempt to compete with Microsoft for large enterprise clients, Sun has put more emphasis on JSRs that focus on solving enterprise problems like SOA, object relational mapping, and JavaServer Faces. Unfortunately, the process of serving enterprises has made Java larger and more complex and, thus, has created more barriers to entry for technology entrepreneurs. Last week, I went into more detail regarding Java's barriers to entry for entrepreneurs in my post Java vs. Ruby on Rails.

If Java is going to continue to be the technology of choice for medium to large businesses, it needs to become the technology of choice for today's small business because they will eventually become the next generation of medium and large businesses. In addition, many enterprises desire to be more entrepreneurial for the purpose of competing with today's generation of entrepreneurs. Two things I think Sun can do to increase the use of Java by entrepreneurs:

Provide really cheap, scalable hosting - Sun should emulate the hosting environment that Google's App Engine has created for Python programmers. Most enterprises want to manage their own data center so this should not threaten Sun's existing revenue streams or the revenue streams of Oracle-BEA and IBM WebSphere. If Sun is lucky, Java will be the next technology that Google's App Engine chooses to support.
Choose and endorse a web framework - Sun should choose and endorse a web framework for entrepreneurs to use. Last time I used it, Sun's JavaServer Faces was the most complicated web framework available. I have have not used either, but it seems like Groovy + Grails is a good combination that can seed the next generation of Java enterprise organizations. In addition, I have not used Struts 2 and, so, I am interested to hear what people think about it is as a choice for entrepreneurs.

Your thoughts?

Setting up a New Blog - Three Must Do Tasks

2008-09-11T14:58:00.002-06:00

The first three things you should do when setting up a new blog are:

Install Google Analytics - Google Analytics is a free service that provides detailed information regarding the visitors of your blog, traffic sources, best and worst peforming pages, and, if needed, can associate the aformentioned information with an ecommerce shopping cart.
Integrate FeedBurner - FeedBurner is a free service that makes it easier for your readers to follow and engage your blog. Specifically, FeedBurner provides widgets that allow readers to subscribe to your blog via an RSS reader and/or e-mail. In addition, FeedBurner's FeedFlare makes it easy to add Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, and other social utilities to the bottom of each blog post. FeedBurner can be configured to notify multiple blog directories, your Twitter account, and search engines after each post is published.
Register your blog with the big 3 search engines - Register your blog and blog sitemap with Google's Webmaster Tools, Yahoo!'s Site Explorer, and Microsoft's Bing Webmaster Center because, in doing so, you will notify them that your blog exists and needs to be added to their search results. Further, monitor the three webmaster tools because they yield valuable feedback about your blog's search engine ranking.

Is there a task that you believe is more important than one or more of these three tasks?

Biden vs. McCain vs. Obama - Voting Records for Votes that Matter

2008-09-10T13:05:00.007-06:00

In the last month of political campaigning, there have been many references to the voting records of senators Joseph Biden, John McCain, and Barack Obama. Further, Joseph Biden, John McCain, and Barack Obama claim that they will bring change to Washington D.C. Specifically, all three senators claim that they have reached across the aisle to get things done and, thus, if elected, will continue to bring change in the future. I have analyzed the three senators' voting records from the 110th United States Congressional session, which is the session of Congress that serves during President George W. Bush's last two years (i.e., January 2007 - January 2009). Specifically, I have examined only the senate votes with a narrow margin of zero or one (e.g., 50-50, 49-48) because these are the votes where the three senators have had the greatest opportunity to reach across the aisle to bring change to Washington. It should be noted that ties are broken by the Vice President Dick Cheney.

Narrow Margin Voting Records (110th Congress)

I tallied the votes without showing any favoritism towards Democrats or Republicans. The tallying of the votes is delineated by instances in which Biden, McCain, and Obama voted with their party, against their party, or abstained from voting. In addition, the votes are categorized using an over-simplified topic or predominating theme (e.g., abortion, adoption tax credit). The results:

Summary of Biden, McCain, and Obama Voting Records

One of my professors from the Crosby MBA Program at the University of Missouri said "The best indicator of future performance is past performance." With that maxim in mind, it is time to summarize which senators put their money where their mouth is and is truthfully using the campaign slogan "that's not change, that's more of the same." In sum, the results are very disappointing because all three senators vote with their party a majority of the time during narrow margin votes.

Joseph Biden - Joseph Biden has been a party "yes man" voting with the Democrats 88% of the time on narrow margin votes.

John McCain - Over the last two years, John McCain has not lived up to his self-proclaimed "maverick" title because he only voted against his party 4% of the time in narrow margin votes.

Barack Obama - Considering he abstained from voting 44% of the time, Barack Obama can not be expected to bring change since he did not take a stance (i.e., vote) on many important issues; unless you consider abstaining as taking a stance. It should be noted that like Obama, 37 other senators did not vote against their party in a single narrow margin vote.

Apparently, presidential political strategy is for candidates to vote inline with their party or to abstain, neither of which provides much information to the voting American public. Unfortunately, comparing Sarah Palin's gubernatorial record to the three senators records would be like comparing apples to oranges so her maverick status must be determined some other way.

The Real Mavericks

Finally, the following spreadsheet highlights the senators who voted against their party the most during narrow margin votes and, specifically, the senators that crossed the aisle on important issues. Thus, this is the list of the real bipartisan mavericks. It needs to be noted that this list excludes the two independents Joseph Lieberman and Bernard Sanders, who are mavericks simply by being independents. Ben Nelson the Democratic senator from Nebraska and George Voinovich the Republican senator from Ohio have led the bipartisan effort over the last two years during narrow margin votes.