Has anyone else been involved in a project like this? If so, which side of the desk were you?

Modern and romantic architecture in a world of mass customization. All about sensuality, all about touch and comfort. Bringing nature inside. Stimulate the senses, color, taste. Entertainment and beauty.

There is something in the human condition. On some level, we all seek beauty. Either physically or philosophically.

(See also: Youtube: The Process)
(See also: TED: Reed Kroloff – Architecture, modern and romantic)

While I don’t believe that everything we have, every great achievement has come from ‘independent work of some independent mind’, I believe much advancement comes from collaborative communities. I admire the pursuit of life on my own terms. The creative process and the struggle to better one’s self.

The statement:

“The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice is independence or dependence.”

appears clear, perhaps too clear. I increasingly see the value in interdependence. Networks of individuals arranged by topologies of interest, created and reforming organically through the collective consciousness of our shared stories.

To that end, I find Ayn Rand’s text inspirational.

(See also: Howard Roark’s Courtroom Speech From The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand)
(See also: Wordle: The Fountainhead speech)
(See also: YouTube: The Fountainhead: Howard Roark Speech (Ayn Rand))
(See also: Amazon: The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand)
(See also: IMDB: The Fountainhead)
(See also: Wikipedia: The Fountainhead)

Returning from an extended July 4th weekend I’ve begun ruminating on the books I’ve consumed over the break.

Here is a quick list. Analysis will take a little longer:

The Myths of Innovation, Scott Berkun

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Though you get the premise quickly, ‘innovation is a process’, historical examples add perspective. Other key points include:

• Why all innovation is a collaborative process
  
• How innovation depends on persuasion
  
• Why problems are more important than solutions
  
• How the good innovation is the enemy of the great
  
• Why the biggest challenge is knowing when it’s good enough
  

Scott’s prose runs thick with references to past and present centers of innovation. Consider this passage:

“For centuries before Google, MIT, and IDEO, modern hotbeds of innovation, we struggled to explain any kind of creation, from the universe itself to the multitudes of ideas around us. While we can make atomic bombs, and dry-clean silk ties, we still don’t have satisfying answers for simple questions like: Where do songs come from? Are there an infinite variety of possible kinds of cheese? How did Shakespeare and Stephen King invent so much, while we’re satisfied watching sitcom reruns? Our popular answers have been unconvincing, enabling misleading, fantasy-laden myths to grow strong.” — Scott Berkun, from the text.

A theme, carried through the book, elevates diligence over talent. Personally, I was glad to hear it.

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc.; 1 edition (May 15, 2007)

Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World: Adaptive Path on Design

Written by the team at Adaptive Path and while it contains elements of interest it lacks narrative arch.

Hardcover: 186 pages
Publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc. (March 26, 2008)

Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself

Daniel Pink was once a White House speech writer. This book is engaging from the start and examples reappear throughout the text providing context and narrative arch.

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Business Plus; 1st edition (May 1, 2002)

In the column of things that are not cloud computing, the new Globus toolkit was released today. Highlights of this release include:

Persistent HTTP/S connection support in Java WS Core
Dynamic deployment support in Java WS Core
JBOSS 4.0.x support in Java WS Core
An implementation of WS-ServiceGroup added to C WS Core
C command-line tools for WSRF operations
Support for GetResourceProperties and QueryResourceProperties in the Delegation Service
Added support for the OGSA-AuthZ Authorization Service to CAS
Server-side attribute-based authorization framework enhancements
Support for a pluggable Policy Decision Point (PDP) designed to minimize common authorization errors
Enhanced security descriptor framework
A Web service interface for the Replica Location Service (RLS)
Improved support for multiple TriggerRules in the Trigger Service
Improved configuration interface for the Trigger Service
Java API to assist in creating resource properties from external information sources
A new resource manager (RM) adapter API in GRAM4

One item of note is the web service interface for the Replica Location Service (RLS).

With the advent of cloud computing models I’m increasingly frustrated by the direction of efforts like this. I understand the need for security models and tools for managing and processing across geographically distant topologies and authority domains. I understand that ‘grids’ and ‘cloud services’ are quite different ideas. I’m not convinced anyone would choose to use a grid, specifically the Globus toolkit, unless it was mandated by their research community and/or funding agency. (See caBIG.) That and the fundamental reliance of a high-performance distributed processing environment on JAVA is baffling. The overhead of this environment is immense and doesn’t appear to be slowing.

The threshold is too high. It simply isn’t worth the effort or supporting infrastructure to deploy a simple set of services for most research communities. RESTful services solve most of these problems with familiar and supported protocols, without the overhead.

(See also: Globus Toolkit 4.2 Released)
(See also: GLOBUS: release notes)
(See also: GLOBUS: software(See also: GLOBUS: documentation))

(See also: caBIG)

(See also: Dissertation: Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures)

This post is not new, but remains relevant. Among my favorites:

• If you peel back the label and it says “Grid” or “OGSA” underneath… it’s not a cloud.
• If there is a consultant in the room… it’s not a cloud.

That said, Cloud Camp is in London next week (July 16) and I’d dearly love to go. I’ve no doubt Werner will speak about Amazon web services and James Governor from Redmonk will be there to report.

Doesn’t cloud computing generally boil down to a conversation with your carriers? In my mind that’s the real question. How to you feel about trusting your enterprise to the cable guy? Perhaps not today, but eventually you will.

(See also: Monkchips: 15 Ways to Tell It’s Not Cloud Computing)

(See also: Gigaom: 10 Reasons Enterprises aren’t ready to trust the Cloud)

(See also: zdnet: How to deploy the cloud of your choice)

(See also: Cloudcamp: London)

(See also: Amazon Web Services)
(See also: BLOG: Werner Vogels)

(See also: Redmonk: Analysis for the people, by the people)
(See also: BLOG: James Governor)