Ron Liechty's Forum Nokia Blog

Ron Liechty's Forum Nokia Blog http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog <p>I am extremely customer focused and I like to tilt at windmills on occasion. I manage the Forum Nokia Discussion boards and will fight for Nokia Developers to be productive.</p> Nokia Ron 2009-11-23T17:46:29Z Innovation on YouTube http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2009/05/11/innovation-on-youtube <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'">You can find all of the Forum Nokia Innovation Series Videos on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/nokiadevforum" target="_blank">Forum Nokia's Innovation Series YouTube channel</a>.</span> </p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'"></span> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'">You can learn more about top applications from the Forum Nokia Community, as told and demonstrated by the developers themselves. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'">So go ahead, and check them out, leave some feedback, and subscribe to our channel:</span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/nokiadevforum"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span style="color: #0000ff">http://www.youtube.com/user/nokiadevforum</span></span></strong></a></span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'"></span> </p> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Ron</span> Business Opportunities/Services Entertainment 2009-05-11T23:35:10Z Nokia Ron Happy Holidays from the Wiki Team http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/12/17/happy-holidays-from-the-wiki-team <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">This has been quite a successful year for the Forum Nokia Wiki.<span>  </span>We started with nothing and launched in April. Already we have over three thousand five hundred contributions by our members to make our Wiki one the best developer’s Wiki in the world and hands down best Mobile developer’s Wiki ever.<span>  </span>We have added the Forum Nokia Knowledge Base to our Wiki to allow for faster updates and comments to Nokia by our users. </span></p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">I am not alone in the Wiki team ten volunteer administrators that help me to find problems and determine contest winners and suggest paths for the Wiki to move to.<span>  </span>These moderators are extremely generous with their time and without them the Wiki would not have grown so quickly and had such well written articles. </span></p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">Rest assured we won’t be sitting still for the next year.<span>  </span>We have plenty of revisions and a few major updates to bring to you.<span>  </span>We will not be idle but an ever changing and ever adapting Wiki with many ideas yet to implement.</span></p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">From all of the Forum Nokia administrators and my self; we wish you a Happy Holiday and many more to follow.</span></p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman">Ron</span></p> Entertainment Event General 2007-12-17T20:18:57Z Nokia Ron Win a Nokia N95 Multimedia Device!! http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/11/01/win-a-nokia-n95-multimedia-device <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Be one of the top contributors to the Forum Nokia Developer Wiki <u>between November 15 and Midnight November 30 </u>and win Nokia’s new premier multimedia device.  The rules are simple, contribute quality or topical articles, How to’s or code examples. All articles submitted during the time period will be subjectively judged on how well they are presented, what the content is and the number of quality entries.  The number of N95’s rewarded will be reflected by the number or quality articles submitted. <span style="color: #ff0000">The more people that participate; the more N95’s we will give away.  </span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">In addition to the possibility of winning, all contributors will be considered for nomination into the Forum Nokia Champions program.  So if you want honor and glory and a new N95 device contribute to the Wiki this month.  </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Those who have previously won a Forum Nokia S60 3<sup>rd</sup> edition device as well as Forum Nokia employees and contractors are not eligible for this contest.  </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">For a full set of rules see the <a href="http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Rules_of_Participation">Rules of Participation</a></span></p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Ron </span> Business Opportunities/Services Entertainment Event 2007-11-01T18:50:03Z Nokia Ron Hartti and Ron go to WeirdStuff http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/09/25/hartti-and-ron-go-to-weirdstuff <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Last week I was in training in the Silicon Valley in California so I took some time to meet with my teammate Hartti Suomela to do some team building. When Hartti gave me the choice of where to go after some gathering of information on the internet, I chose <a href="http://www.weirdstuff.com/sunnyvale/html/index.htm"><font color="#800080">Weird Stuff in Sunnyvale California</font></a>. After questioning my sanity and admitting that he had never heard of the place Hartti reluctantly trekked off with me to see the great unknown.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">WeirdStuff is a showroom and warehouse for all the flotsam and jetsam that is discarded in the high tech industrial world of Silicon Valley. From vintage 1990 computers to barrels full of miscellaneous nuts and bolts (which sell by the pound) all things salvaged from business close outs and other salvage end up at WeirdStuff. If you need an 8 foot glass server rack, or a shell for a Donkey Kong arcade game. Do you need a 1/2” tape backup or a copy of Amish Utilities for Windows 2.0 this is the place to be. A chip tester, an oscilloscope, or a really great 10 foot high “you are here” kiosk almost everything high tech related is for sale. From a box full of corded and one wireless phones to a Sybase back up system it was hard to find something that stumped both Hartti and I.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Hartti and I were typical WeirdStuff customers, just people that have heard of the place and were there out of curiosity. Luckily for me I had to fly home or the trunk of the car may have been full of spare parts before I left Monday afternoon. Other store browsers were electronic hobbyist trying to find parts to build a home robot or fix an old computer for the kids. If you needed a resister or miniature motor or power supply here was a great place to get it. Another large segment of the stores business is lawyers. Not that lawyers are known as electronic nuts but they investigate in order to get patent rights. Was there an older version; is the new device you have just a rehash of someone else’s idea? All is very interesting and WeirdStuff proved not to be so weird and mostly just stuff. If you aren’t in the San Francisco area you can <a href="http://www.weirdstuff.com/sunnyvale/html/bid_sale.htm"><font color="#800080">check it out on the internet</font></a>. But there is nothing like picking up a 15 year old piece of computer history in your hands and saying I remember this.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron</div> Enterprise Entertainment General 2007-09-25T00:15:30Z Nokia Ron And Now For Something Entirely Different http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/08/30/and-now-for-something-entirely-different <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ah the words I loved to hear right after the giant foot smashes the nude lady as the band plays Sousa’s Liberty Bell march. What, you only know <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/m/montypythonsflyi_1299002137.shtml"><font color="#800080">Monty Python’s Flying Circus</font></a> from movies and the dead parrot bit? The 45 episodes that began in 1969 have lasted 40 years and still stand up today. Something else began development in 1969 and was released in 1972 even before Monty Python made it to the American shore. That is the programming language called C, truly this was something entirely different.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">C is a modular (structured) programming language that was designed to be a portable assembly language. John McEnerney one of the original authors of Think Pascal once wrote an e-mail saying he had finally found pure eloquence and it was pointers in the C language. Programming languages have come and programming languages have gone but C has endured and spread in dozens of variants and the basis for Java. All POSIX compatible operating systems come with a C Compiler built into the system. With just 30 words a language that is so powerful that it changed the world. It is not UNIX or Linux that made open source acceptable it was the portable language of C that allowed everyone on a wide variety of platforms to write something that they can share with the world.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">So lets all raise a toast to something entirely different C, the eloquent programming language. Thirty-five years young and still it endures.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron</div> Entertainment Open C Symbian C++ 2007-08-30T03:24:06Z Nokia Ron Web 2.0 rev. 8.0d http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/08/28/web-2.0-rev.-8.0d <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> I never got the purpose of a Wiki until I started using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page"><font color="#800080">Wikipedia</font></a>. To me the only thing that Wikis were good for was for collaboration projects. I did not grasp the concept of contributed documentation, only contributed code and comments. Now, a Wikipedia is my first stop for documentation of anything I am curious about. Want to know what SOA is? Then wikipedia.org is the place to go. Now granted there are twenty other possible solutions besides Service Oriented Software but generally from the context of the phrase you are reading it, you will get the right answer. </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">I hope that Forum Nokia’s Wiki can be the place for all mobile device developers to go to first for answers. I hope that when a person predominately doing Samsung device applications wants to find out information that they check the Nokia Wiki first. I say this because then that that same person will contribute his knowledge to Nokia’s developers Wiki. Sure we could all just use Google and let the Google Brats rake in the dough but do we want another mega-corporation dominating the world? (Well, yeah, if it is Nokia).</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">The best way to learn something is to teach it, the next best way is to write an article about it. If you don’t have time to do those, read a Wiki. If it is wrong, don’t worry an expert will come by and correct it in short order. I don’t comprehend why I resisted Wikis for years, most likely is that I just had this concept of it as a project tracking system. Whatever held me back, like a dam breaking my enthusiasm is bursting out. So, watch out below.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron</div> Business Opportunities/Services Enterprise Entertainment 2007-08-28T02:42:25Z Nokia Ron Web 2.0, Part 1.5 http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/08/17/web-2.0-part-1.5 <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">While I enjoy blogging and it does put a human face to a company I don’t see it as the penultimate feature of web 2.0. However, when you talk to bloggers or the media (where journalists are pretty much just paid bloggers) you would think that blogs are the beginning and the end of Web 2.0. A recent article about the iPhone told of an AT&T customer that had ran up <a href="http://www.arcdesignconsulting.com/iphone_horror.html"><font color="#800080">a $5,000 roaming bill</font></a> by using the iPhone to access the Internet while in Europe. Who can deny that the mobile device and the Web 2.0 are totally united for better or worse? Steve Jobs carefully used the Internet to generate hysteria for the release of the iPhone and the popularity of the N95 has mostly been through word of mouth over the Internet.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">In reality, blogs are a small segment of the Internet and saying outrageous things on the net does not make you any smarter than saying outrageous things on a soap box in front of the town hall. You just get laughed at by more people. While someone might think he is wise and has a cult status the truth is that blogs are a small piece of the internet communication. Anyone that thinks that a single blog is directing the way the world perceives something is mistaken.  However, when well orchestrated as in elections and iPhone releases, they can indeed be a powerful force. Like news and commentary on television where it represents about 10% of the online time there are other channels of communications we should be aware of. </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Stay tuned for more information on Web 2.0 and how it affects mobile developers.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron</div> Connectivity Enterprise Entertainment 2007-08-17T22:11:13Z Nokia Ron Web 2.0, Part 1.0 http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/08/15/web-2.0-part-1.0 <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">I dislike buzz words like Web 2.0  that don’t mean anything so why not have a series of articles that tell what it means. One of Nokia’s employees uploaded a thesis on <a href="http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Web_2.0"><font color="#800080">Web 2.0</font></a> to the Developer’s Wiki that I think every mobile developer should read. When it was uploaded, my first thought was that I wondered if this is really related to developing for mobile devices. Then it hit me, not only is this related; it is the most important media technology for developers to understand concerning the future of mobile devices.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Is it social media or a technology, is this just <a href="http://myspace.com/"><font color="#800080">MySpace</font></a>, <a href="http://www.ebay.com/"><font color="#800080">eBay</font></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/"><font color="#800080">YouTube</font></a> or <a href="http://mosh.nokia.com/user/rliechty"><font color="#800080">MOSH</font></a> or is it technical like all the alphabet technologies AJAX or XML, CSS, RSS and all of that? Everyone that uses the internet thinks Web 2.0 is something else. Let’s start with something called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture"><font color="#800080">Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)</font></a> that is highly touted as the future on all the Information Technology magazines.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">SOA is a customer service oriented aspect of the Internet that I read a lot about and another thing I am never sure I understand. However, if you’ve ever filed an insurance request online, you have experienced it. While this total Web interface is effective and efficient and has made <a href="http://www.amazon.com/"><font color="#800080">amazon.com</font></a> and <a href="http://www.geico.com/"><font color="#800080">Geico Insurance</font></a> big winners. Generally the customer service aspect is to get your money and often works very well for support after they have the money. However, in the case of highly technological support such as mobile device development, Forum Nokia needs to go way beyond SOA and understand it is not a panacea but only a piece of the pie.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Stay tuned for the next blog as I (feeling like Dogbert) give my opinions of other aspects of Web 2.0</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron</div> Connectivity Enterprise Entertainment 2007-08-15T23:25:06Z Nokia Ron The Continuing Saga on my Lack of Knowledge of Electronics http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/07/20/the-continuing-saga-on-my-lack-of-knowledge-of-electronics <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">One day when I was young, Thomas A. Edison and I were selling fruit on the train. As we passed into a tunnel I leaned over and said, "Tommy my boy, there should be some way to keep the lights on when it is dark." Immediately a candle lit above his head. Later I happened to mention how as the wheels hit different bumps in the rails it almost sounded like music playing.  Well I may not be that old but I did grow up in the era of the electronic Tube.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">For those of us who grew up thinking a “Tuner” was a slap to the side of the TV when it needed adjusting, modern electronics are amazing. Even though I’ve played with computers for years and have no qualms about opening one up and playing inside it. The only time I ever needed to solder something inside the case was a replacement battery. My point is that there isn’t a lot of tweaking you can do to modern electronics other than replace a component or toss it out and buy a better version. But even now you can tune your mobile devices with just rudimentary knowledge of programming. Flash Lite and Python are enabling people to create things and customize your devices to make them personal again. With the quality of cameras and the ability to even plug them into a TV set what you can do with a device is amazing. So while I may not be able to start a circuit from scratch, I can make my device mine and so can you.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron</div> Entertainment General 2007-07-20T00:36:05Z Nokia Ron What I Do Not Know About Electronics - Episode 2 http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/ron-liechtys-forum-nokia-blog/2007/07/17/what-i-do-not-know-about-electronics-episode-2 <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">The definition of a boat is something you put in the water than keep putting cash into until it sinks. Buying a Wide Screen HDTV was not as bad as a boat, but one thing just led to another. After I finally, had all the electronic components bought for my home theater I found I had store rebates worth almost a thousand dollars. Store rebates take about 6 weeks to process so you won’t buy something get the rebate then return it. It also forces you to buy all the extras with cash and then spend your rebate on other items.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">My other item was a dish washer. I hadn’t had a dishwasher since she threw me (old joke). I did not need one, I would take a few minutes every other day and wash the few plates and pots and be totally happy. However, after walking though the Best Buy store there was very little else I wanted so I purchased a fine dishwasher that takes almost as much time to rinse and load dishes as it does to just wash them in the first place. Wait you just can’t put a dishwasher in a kitchen. I have to tear out my current sink and drawers create a brand new cabinet and a new cabinet top, not to mention wiring and plumbing for it. Oh yeah and of course a garbage disposal to add to the Dishwasher. Now my decision to buy a big screen TV is costing me over $5,000. I didn’t want to buy a house just a TV Set.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">But there is one more thing about owning a big screen TV that I had not taken into account, people may come and if they do, they need to sit comfortably, and that was not possible on the old sofa couch. With a new couch I think it is all complete, each end has a lazy boy recliner and the middle pulls out to a bed. TV looks good and all is well, A few lap tables and I think I’m all set for under $10,000 I’ve finally paid for my $2000 (minus rebate) Wide Screen TV.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron (what do you mean I need a Nintendo WII?)</div> Entertainment General 2007-07-17T23:31:13Z Nokia Ron