Joe Peichel

My First Google Wave I got my invitation to Google Wave on Friday and finally had a few minutes to check it out last night and today.  Started my first wave on "cloud computing."  Seems fitting to discuss the topic in a new, cloud-based collaboration platform.  Of course, I continue to have dialogs on cloud computing in other media, but couldn't resist trying out Google Wave with such a fitting topic. Right now I've only got about 5 colleagues in Google Wave along with me, but that'll grow over the next few days.  I'll post more observations as my community grows and I have more reasons to work in the environment. Meanwhile, I'm in it and learning my way around.  Stay tuned!

Verizon, Motorola unveil the Droid | Signal Strength - CNET News : "NEW YORK--Verizon Wireless customers will soon be able to get their hands on the much anticipated Google Android phone called the Droid." I have to say, I'm impressed by the features. The Droid is almost compelling enough to pull me away from AT&T and the promise that (eventually) my wife will let me buy an iPhone (she already has hers ;) ). I say almost because, while the software side of the Droid (Google Android 2.0) shows promise as a formidable competitor to the iPhone OS (some might call it "Mac OS X mobile edition"), it still lacks the industrial design elegance and comprehensive hardware/software integration of the iPhone. I worry about the hardiness and longevity of devices with so many mechanical elements (full qwerty keyboard, slide out screen). The iPhone has only two hardware switches, no other moving parts, and so not much that's subject to wear. Still, the Droid has...

2-Minute Tasks One of the principles outlined in David Allen's " Getting Things Done " is that of immediately executing those items on our "to do" lists that take 2 minutes or less. Of course, this assumes you're good at identifying those things that are "2-minute tasks" vs. all the rest. This morning as my wife was leaving to run errands she commented that she nearly decapitated herself on the metal bracket hanging down from the open garage door. This state of affairs is the result of a minor repair project I've undertaken, as our garage door opener has been broken for nearly 2 months. Unfortunately during the disassembly, I neglected to take the opener bracket arm off of the garage door, and this morning my wife encountered it while she was putting things into our Suburban, leading me to my "2-minute task." How long does it take to remove a bracket? It should be a 2-minute task, and thankfully today it was. Unfortunately, many...

On My Own - Doing It By The Numbers Over the weekend I got my first call on a consulting opportunity.  A few calls later I realized something - I hadn't figured out how to price my "product!" It's pretty hard for someone to buy something (or even determine whether they're interested) if they don't know the price. Of course, that realization came after I nailed down something even more important...my resume. I promised lots of friends, colleagues and former co-workers that I'd let them know how things are going, so I plan to catalog the steps in my process here on my blog in the unlikely event that someone else decides to pursue a similar path. I know this has probably all been written about before, but some of us are just too darned bull-headed to learn lessons from other people and need to make our own mistakes, carve our own paths. Step #1 - Define Your Product (aka Update Your Resume) I know most people probably keep their resumes current by looking at...

Sad Day For Microsoft: 5,000 Laid Off, Earnings And Revenues Down It would seem, seeing this headline, that even the tech sector is unable to avoid the consequences of this economic downturn.  When even bellwether Microsoft must slash jobs, it must be impossible to create a sustainable business model that has the elasticity to weather a severe economic slowdown. Then again, there's this: Apple made $10 billion, sold 88% more iPhones than last year and this: Apple Reports First Quarter Results - Best Quarterly Revenue and Earnings in Apple History I believe Apple has established a management and operations pattern that may prove a model for sustainable business operations that, while not necessarily immune to economic trends and conditions, could prove more stable and thus less prone to the "hire wildly then lay off" pattern so many companies and industries seem subject to. Is Apple an enigma, or a new business model?  Share your comments.

First Day Started today with coffee in bed until 9am, then got down to business. Earlier this week, after being notified I would be leaving my employer, I decided to take advantage of the company's Employee Purchase Plan (EPP) with Apple. I walked into the Ridgedale Apple Store  and picked out a Mac Pro dual Xeon quad-core 2.8GHz CPU , an Apple Wireless Keyboard , a couple of 20" Apple Cinema Displays , and the 10-user edition of Mac OS X Server . I decided that, as part of defining my work, I needed to make sure my productivity wasn't hampered by under-powered technology.  I want to be able to do some serious computing, and there's nothing more powerful and affordable than the Mac Pro. I'm happy to say that I'm writing this entry on my new Mac Pro, although I haven't yet installed Mac OS X Server (that'll come later, once I've planned out disk partitioning and digital workspace mechanics). Working (and Living) Green One of the things I've ne...

Bless me Father, for I have not blogged With the exception of yesterday's post about Mac OS X and Windows 7, it's been over a year since I last blogged here , and nearly two years since I've posted anything technical . I went underground during that time, focusing on writing intranet blogs and articles and neglecting the "real world." As of today, I no longer have an intranet to blog to (I was laid off), so it's time once again to turn my attention to what's going on out here on the big, bad Internet. Watch this space in coming days for my thoughts on Apple products, personal productivity in the enterprise, mobile and remote workforce technology, and virtualization (along with meanderings into a wide variety of other topics).