Informal Brain http://informalbrain.com strategic thinking from Shawn Smith Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:13:19 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ en hourly 1 http://www.gravatar.com/blavatar/695e96773ffb09957509890e16c9e893?s=96&d=http://s.wordpress.com/i/buttonw-com.png Informal Brain http://informalbrain.com Parallels Desktop 5 Ups the Ante and Beats Fusion http://informalbrain.com/2009/11/09/parallels-desktop-5-ups-the-ante-and-beats-fusion/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/11/09/parallels-desktop-5-ups-the-ante-and-beats-fusion/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:12:28 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/parallels-desktop-5-ups-the-ante-and-beats-fusion/ ]]>

Amazing, just days after VMware ships their brand new version of Fusion which includes full support for Windows 7 Aero out of nowhere comes Parallels Desktop 5. At first I was skeptical. How can the company that owns the server virtualization crown with ESX sever possible be beat by upstart Parallels? Well, Parallels has one it. Speed, performance, memory usage, it is all better in Parallels Desktop 5.

Don’t believe me? Give them both a try in a head to head battle.

Windows 7.png

Parallels running Windows 7 with full Aero Glass.

Parallels Virtual Machines.png

The list of Parallels virtual machines.

Virtual Machine Configuration _ Windows 7.png

Parallels settings. Notice the nice touches like Gestures and Apple remote settings.

Posted in 365, apple Tagged: apple, parallels, parallels desktop 5, virtualization, vmware ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/11/09/parallels-desktop-5-ups-the-ante-and-beats-fusion/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith Windows 7.png Parallels Virtual Machines.png Virtual Machine Configuration _ Windows 7.png Apple’s new EasyPay checkout shows the future of mobile scanners http://informalbrain.com/2009/11/03/apples-new-easypay-checkout-shows-the-future-of-mobile-scanners/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/11/03/apples-new-easypay-checkout-shows-the-future-of-mobile-scanners/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:01:14 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/apples-new-easypay-checkout-shows-the-future-of-mobile-scanners/ ]]>

A first look at the new case designed for the Apple Store to replace the aging symbol devices used as mobile point of sale units.

What I find really interesting is the application of this design to mobile warehouse, inventory and package scanning. It is still unknown who partnered with Apple to build the special case but I sure hope we see it marketed as an after market product. I can see all kinds of amazing possibilities at a much lower price point than current windows CE scanners.

Windows mobile first replaced Palm and MSDOS as the predominant handheld platforms. Next we will see OSX replace windows CE.

easypay-091103-1.png easypay-091103-10.png

[From AppleInsider | Exclusive look at Apple's new iPod touch-based EasyPay checkout]

Posted in apple, iPhone Tagged: apple, barcode, iPhone, scanner ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/11/03/apples-new-easypay-checkout-shows-the-future-of-mobile-scanners/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith easypay-091103-1.png easypay-091103-10.png Vmware Fusion 3.0 (Full Aero Support with Windows 7) http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/27/vmware-fusion-3-0-full-aero-support-with-windows-7/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/27/vmware-fusion-3-0-full-aero-support-with-windows-7/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:08:35 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/vmware-fusion-3-0-full-aero-support-with-windows-7/ ]]>

Just grabbed the release of VMWare Fusion 3.0 which was released today at Midnight.

Full 64 Bit support under Snow Leopard, and full support for Aero Graphics with Windows 7.

Windows Seven.png

NOTE: If you are wondering how to turn Aero on for an existing VM?  Make sure you change the VM type to Windows 7 from Server 2008 or Vista.  Install the new VMWare Tools to update the drivers.  After a reboot make sure you go into the computer properties and update the windows experience rating.  This will take a few seconds and when it is done you will have all the Aero goodness.

Posted in 365 Tagged: aero, fusion 3, virtualization, visual, vmware, windows ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/27/vmware-fusion-3-0-full-aero-support-with-windows-7/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith Windows Seven.png Ballmer misses huge chance to claim tablet win… news at 11. http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/23/ballmer-misses-huge-chance-to-claim-tablet-win-news-at-11/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/23/ballmer-misses-huge-chance-to-claim-tablet-win-news-at-11/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:15:31 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/ballmer-misses-huge-chance-to-claim-tablet-win-news-at-11/ ]]>

Interesting that when asked Ballmer blew off any kind of opportunity to claim a thought share win on the tablet computing front…

When asked about the rumored Courier tablet book, Ballmer claims to have never seen the video and to only have heard details of the rumor. He does, however, hint at possible inside knowledge of the dual-screen, multi-touch device.

“I hope somebody does stuff like that,” he says.

[From Ballmer: Win Mobile 7 will bring Zune features | Electronista]

I suspect that when Ballmer says “somebody” everyone reads Apple… but that may just be me :)

Posted in 365 Tagged: microsoft, tablet, windows ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/23/ballmer-misses-huge-chance-to-claim-tablet-win-news-at-11/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith 10 Years of Virtual Machine Performance (Semi) Demystified | Engine Yard Blog http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/06/10-years-of-virtual-machine-performance-semi-demystified-engine-yard-blog/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/06/10-years-of-virtual-machine-performance-semi-demystified-engine-yard-blog/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:04:07 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/10-years-of-virtual-machine-performance-semi-demystified-engine-yard-blog/ ]]>

First, a solid statement: virtualization has always levied a CPU “tax.” Early on, this was very high, recently not so much. Probably the most comprehensive recent non-vendor benchmark of performance vs. native is AnandTech’s, which recently showed anywhere from a 2% to a 7% CPU tax on a fully loaded system running mixed workload 4-CPU virtual machines on recent hardware.

via engineyard.com

This blog post from Engine Yard shows the evolution of x86 virtualization technology and tackles the CPU tax imposed by Virtualization technologies over time. A must read if you are implementing big virtualization projects.

Posted via web from InFormalBrain

Posted in 365 Tagged: tax, virtualization ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/10/06/10-years-of-virtual-machine-performance-semi-demystified-engine-yard-blog/feed/ 1 Shawn Smith Collaborative Business Process Design using Google Wave http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/collaborative-business-process-design-using-google-wave/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/collaborative-business-process-design-using-google-wave/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:06:34 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/collaborative-business-process-design-using-google-wave/ ]]>

7 min video of Gravity

Gravity is a proof of concept project from our friends at SAP.  They created a system called Gravity which plugs into Google Wave and allows for collaborative Business Process development.  Click through the link to see an amazing video of the tool in action.  Incredible possibilities for cross site collaboration.

Posted via email from InFormalBrain

Posted in 365 ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/collaborative-business-process-design-using-google-wave/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith Salesforce.com show how to connect Google Wave with Force.com’s Service Cloud http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/salesforce-com-show-how-to-connect-google-wave-with-force-coms-service-cloud/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/salesforce-com-show-how-to-connect-google-wave-with-force-coms-service-cloud/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:13:28 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/salesforce-com-show-how-to-connect-google-wave-with-force-coms-service-cloud/ ]]>
via blog.sforce.com

Think next generation chat services with any type of incident management or service request management system. Wave will create the types of hybrid solutions we could only dream of creating before by mashing up Instant Messaging and Email. Amazing!

Posted via web from InFormalBrain

Posted in 365 ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/salesforce-com-show-how-to-connect-google-wave-with-force-coms-service-cloud/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith Apple, how about allowing iPhone Apps to run on the Mac? http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/apple-how-about-allowing-iphone-apps-to-run-on-the-mac/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/apple-how-about-allowing-iphone-apps-to-run-on-the-mac/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:13:29 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/apple-how-about-allowing-iphone-apps-to-run-on-the-mac/ ]]>

Dear Apple,

With all those great applications (and games) out there why not let the mac run them as well?

How about letting us use our laptop touchpads as a controller?

Think instant apps expansion for your platform!!!

Thanks, Shawn

Posted via email from InFormalBrain

Posted in 365 ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/30/apple-how-about-allowing-iphone-apps-to-run-on-the-mac/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith Waze Turns Turn-By-Turn Navigation And Mapmaking Into A Free Game http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/25/waze-turns-turn-by-turn-navigation-and-mapmaking-into-a-free-game/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/25/waze-turns-turn-by-turn-navigation-and-mapmaking-into-a-free-game/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:25:24 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/waze-turns-turn-by-turn-navigation-and-mapmaking-into-a-free-game/ ]]>
I tried out waze for the first time tonight. It has a very nice ui, and the game aspect is interesting. However my inital routing test worked poorly. I will try another route in the morning and see how it does. 

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Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from InFormalBrain

Posted in 365 ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/25/waze-turns-turn-by-turn-navigation-and-mapmaking-into-a-free-game/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith Gmail Is Down … Again http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/25/gmail-is-down-%e2%80%a6-again/ http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/25/gmail-is-down-%e2%80%a6-again/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:18:48 +0000 Shawn Smith http://informalbrain.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/gmail-is-down-%e2%80%a6-again/ ]]>
Gmail Is Down … Again

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Sigh, google is doing a very poor job demonstrating stability with their gapps platform.  Bad timing when enterprise customers are thinking about moving to their services. 

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from InFormalBrain

Posted in 365 ]]> http://informalbrain.com/2009/09/25/gmail-is-down-%e2%80%a6-again/feed/ 0 Shawn Smith