For those of us still using OutLook Express, Inside OutLook Express has a great set of tips and technical support.

The Tiobe Community Programming Index, lists the popularity of programming languages. This is an interesting idea when trying to figure out what tools to use to write your next next system in. This month’s winners are:
Java, C, C++, PHP, Basic, Perl, C#, Python, JavaScript, Delphi/Kylix, SAS, PL/SQL, Visual FoxPro, Lisp/Scheme, Coldfusion, VB.NET, Cobol, Ruby, Ada, D.

From their commentary:

It is important to note that this only one of many criteria to be used before taking a decision to adopt a language. Other criteria are suitability for the application domain, reliability of compilers, expression power, performance, and scalability. Hence, Ada can still be used for mission-critical systems although one should consider alternatives. This is what you also see in daily practice, Ada is hardly used for new mission-critical systems anymore. The other way around is also true. Everybody will agree that it is not wise to program missile software in JavaScript.

I think it is interesting that the first 12 languages in the list can be considered cross-platform. (i.e. work on Windows/Linux/Macs/mainframes…) and that the first ranked Windows-only language is Visual FoxPro. Also, Coldfusion actually shows up before VB.NET. I think that suggests that data-centric languages still have their place over general purpose languages as a way to leverage database queries and manipulation. Yet…yet, the three top-ranked languages could be considered third-generation, even low-level, general purpose languages. Fortunately, there are all manner of ways to leverage these with application frameworks and automation tools, which offset their level. Few application programmers write with just an ASCII editor nowadays, and I would suggest that when hiring a programmer for a specific application you examine not only the language that they will use, but also the tools.

The U.S., which has 16.8 broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants, is ahead of the U.K., which has 15.9 broadband subscribers for every 100 inhabitants, but behind Japan, which has 17.6 broadband subscribers for every 100 inhabitants.

via IPDemocracy

Microsoft bought Onfolio. While this wouldn’t automatically cause me to gag, I do think it unfortunate that their plans include the following changes:

1. Onfolio is free (!) and is incorporated into the Windows Live Toolbar (lame-o)
2. Support for FoxFire is dropped.
3. The reports function in Onfolio Professional is dropped in any new versions.
4. The academic version is dropped.

So, in my case, at least, the program is dumbed down, incorporated in a stupid toolbar accessory, that I don’t use, and crucial enhanced functions are discontinued.

The good news is, version 2.02 still works fine…with FoxFire.
So many good programs bite the dust. Remember Lotus Agenda?

The dumb thing people do is apply to the IRS for their tax refund. The IRS is very uptight over refunding your money. But, any other government agency will gladly refund your tax money. All you have to do is politely ask them in a nice way at the right time.

Don Lancaster – The Incredible Secret Money Machine.

The ISMM is one of my favorite small business books. Its first edition came out in 1978 and an updated edition came our in 1991. I don’t think it is currently in print, or available on Don’s web site. It does, however, appear to be available used from Amazon. (and look at the price!….they are becoming collector’s items.)

Here’s where you ask:
www.grants.gov

Welecome to Tech for Non-Profits, the unplugged version of Microdesign Consulting. We feel that non-profit corporations and NGOs deserve the same advantages that technology can bring to for-profit business. To that end, we’ve dedicated ourselves to finding cost-effective ways to bring the benefits of wide-area networks, computer databases, IP videoconferencing and Voice over IP to our clients and friends. Check out our (mostly) annotated VoIP resource guide.

I have to give the Staples guy credit for the idea of going on eBay to find Rambus memory to upgrade a Dell workstation. I went into our local Staples and he tried to find compatible memory for my machine. If you buy the memory from Dell it is almost double the cost. Instead I used “Buy-It-Now” on eBay to get an additional 256Kb of RAM for an older Dell Dimension 8200.

Here is a nice little memory testing program. An alternative open source program called memtest86 is located here. When you run the downloaded program it creates a bootable image on a floppy disk or CD, which is then used to boot the computer under test.

So far, my eBay memory looks fine. I’m going to upgrade a couple other machines as well. The combination of running Symantec Anti-Virus 10, with the Microsoft Anti-Spam program appears to be putting several older marginal machines (256 of memory) over the edge. The symptoms are either full crashes when several programs are open, or else a lot of extra disk activity as the memory is swapped in and out. A memory upgrade appears to help.

I’ve been spending some time in Excel lately, doing budgets and projections. Excel easily passes the five minute test, but I can’t say that I’ve gone much beyond adding up columns and rows using the SUM() function. I have friends though, that live in Excel, using it to produce all their reports, with graphs and color. A couple of items surfaced recently:

• XLQ. XLQ is an Excel plug-in function that goes and finds stock prices (and a whole lot more) using free on-line stock services like Yahoo Finance. Although you can get a free plugin from Microsoft which does this, it also brings in several extraneous rows of information, including advertising. XLQ, by contrast puts the price in a single cell. For example, to get the current price of Apple stock, you would put =XLQPrice(‘APPL’) as a cell formula, and the current (or 15 minute delayed) price would appear.
• While browsing in B&N the other day, I came across a book by Stephen Few, Information Dashboard Design This seemed like a very elegant book by someone who obviously has spent considerable time figuring out ways to deliver a lot of summary information in effective ways. Think Tufte for the 21st century. However, the book was short on software ideas. But over at ExcelUser, there is a ton of material about using Excel to create dashboards. It looks like a very good place to start.

update: 3/16
Here is a nice set of Excel tutorials from Clemson University.

I had a request the other day, to share a Hewlett Packard All-In-One. I think the unit is a predecessor to the HP 2575. Inexpensive ($150.00), the unit prints with a color inkjet, and includes a scanner. It was the scanner in particular, that people wanted to share within the office, although they were also pleased at the idea of being able to print to a color printer.

When I hear about sharing a scanner, my first thought is to have them share a scanner on a networked copier. Imagistics and Xerox both have this option, and it works very well. But in this case, we had a cheap printer/scanner, that connected to a Windows XP desktop machine through a USB port.

The second idea would be to share the unit via the Windows XP sharing mechanism, to others on the network. This works reasonably well for sharing printers, but I was not aware that it would share the scanner function as well…absent some kind of networked scanner software and extra functionality built into the unit.

So I looked into networked scanners, and found a very nice HP Scanner for $400 or so which included networked scanning. But this was like hitting a tack with a sledgehammer.

We finally settled on a nifty device called the Keyspan USB Server. In their own words:

The USB Server makes it possible for USB printers, USB scanners and other USB devices to be used and shared across your network. It is ideal for home office, small office or classroom use!

The USB Server supports both Ethernet and Wi-Fi networks — making it easy to use USB devices from a Wi-Fi based laptop!

We attaching our little printer to this thing, installed the print drivers on each workstation and voila! instantly were able to scan to any workstation on the network.

If you’ve installed printer servers on a network, (like the Intel Netport) this is a similar kind of thing for USB devices. It requires a small memory-resident program to be present on each workstation which uses the device.

Recommended at $104.00 from Amazon.

We have been down a rabbit hole the past several weeks, working on our small business innovation grant (SBIR) application. This is a program which requires all U.S. agencies to send 2.5% of their budget for outside funding to U.S. small businesses. The program is in two phases: Phase I is nominally for $100,000 for six months, and Phase II is nominally for $750,000 and two years. However, it varies by agency. In our case, we are partnering with the local university, and indeed, the Uni received almost 80% of the funds from the Phase I grant. However, they also brought us the idea so we can’t complain too loudly. If your non-profit organization has a research project, and you need to subcontract the work to an outside company, the SBIR program might indeed be something to look at.

We were awarded a Phase I grant from the National Institutes of Health, Institute on Aging for our feasibility study on home-based telemedicine. The project involved installing a videoconferencing unit in our study subject’s homes, and conducting a home-based exercise class. Our target population were senior patients who had fallen or who had a fear of falling. We conducted a 15 week exercise class with two sets of study subjects, using multi-point video. We could see them and they could see us, and they could at times see each other, so it was very much like a “real” class.

We did pre and post testing of our subjects, and found, in general, that they improved their balance, strength, and well-being in ways that were similar to, or even better than similar subjects who participated in a live class. We’re now applying for a second phase grant, where we’ll do a formal controlled study to compare participants of a home class with those who participate in a live class.

This has been a real eye-opener to me, as the business partner, the boxes-and-wires guy, into the whole realm of scientific research, academic journals, the NIH, and US government funded research. What is interesting to me is that I had no idea of how this is really done, even though the public reads every week about some new drug study, or finding about drinking coffee, or the efficacy of osteoporosis drugs. Pick up a copy of Prevention magazine, or any of the Rodale publications like Bicycling or Men’s Health, and you’ll read about a clinical study which shows that ….blah blah blah.

SBIR grants cover all government agencies, not just NIH. EPA, Department of Defence, Department of Education, NOAA, NASA, all are required to participate in the SBIR program. Particularly in health care, education, and environmental studies, there might be a connection for your agency.