Bill and Melinda Gates are donating millions to India to help fight aids. Sad that other's should see the problem that our own government ignores. Thanks B&M - also i believe the number of Indians who have worked for MS over the years and want to do something for the home country. about time.

Some good developments - presentation to BlueDart / DHL went brilliantly - when a cleint gets up saying

"if only we had groove when this was happening" you know he has seen value immediately.
when he says "this has so many uses that i won't even try to explain to others, we will just put it to use" you know that the ideal technology has found the right user.

i know BD/DHL well - i predict that if groove 2.5 gets in the door (bandwidth control is vital) , this will be the fastest and broadest adoption we will see.

Great news, Andy has "formally" launched POPG along with a groove based forum on the lines of Yahoo Groups.
checkout www.popg.co.uk for more details and to log in to an amazing experience - native groove accessible from a browser.
Groove is now 'available' to anyone on any machine/OS :)

comment is a bit late i know, but, 32 BILLION $ for a woman who CHOSE to smoke herself sick - i am a smoker too - no advert ever held a gun to my head and made me - and i never inflict it on anyone - i smoke but i do not burn. Tragically i know too many people who burn, even when they do not smoke.

truth is - cigarettes do not make everyone sick - it is those already sick / emotionally upset / marginalised people who abuse tobacco or any other substance they can lay their hands on - illness is their nature - their protest - the cigarettes are only one possible excuse - if not there would be others.

i do not defend tobacco companies for their BS - but that does not make an individual a Victim - what happened to the thing we all have - it's called called a brain ? and something else we call FREE will !

no wonder corporate America is declining - the system is destroying itself ! and it don''t even need to smoke anymore !.it can litigate itself into a lose lose situation.

new version of dbconnect up - much sweeter - also matrix with a new face - thanks groove for the prompt help.

which reminds me of this programmer from Bangalore who was going on and on about the lousy state of this world and the injustice and the violence -
and then a voice is heard -
be patient my Son, this is just version 1.

dbconnect gets better and better with a little help from our freinds
http://www.groove.net/support/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=6222&STARTPAGE=1

So, Putin the hero is no more. Bad chess move - or is it that he is more confident of facing the wrath of his own citizens than allowing the Chechens a possible advantage. Did the old Soviet Union ever really go away?

Sad, in the current eco / political situation it is easier to sell a man a gun at 500$ than groove at 50?
and that is despite the attack on the core internet servers last week. when will the world (of business) realize that they are most vulnerable in the area they take most for granted - Email.

Pleased with the response from users to our 3 new tools,
when people are willing to pull out their credit cards it means you have done something useful.
There is some stuff to be improved for the commercial release, we developers are perfectionists at heart,
but we needed the feedback and thank you all for your inputs.

Tehelka.Com is now closed. RIP (2000-2002) (Tehelka loosely mean Investigation)

this was the first (only) journalist / entity in India to take on the government and actually show video tapes of the highest officers in the political / military combine taking bribes.

this week they were forced to close as their moneyline was shutoff and fear of the govt. kept others away. if there is anyone out there who would like to revive this 'institution' we are sorely in need of such people to keep our govt. in check. :)

more techie discussion on performance / dbconnect begun here. we need to fully understand this.

http://www.groove.net/devzone/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=6222&STARTPAGE=1

in the ongoing saga of dbconnect - some of the performance and other issues raised may be of interest

http://www.groove.net/support/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=21&threadid=6164&STARTPAGE=1

i must apologise to users who downloaded an earlier version of dbconnect (than today)

groove has just introduced the concept of resource bundles and i did not realise they had version numbers also - unfortunately under the OSD arch if you have ever injected a tool of an earlier version and them upped it but forgot in one file, groove uses the older version and generates no errror.

on a brand new install which never had a copy - the version is found to be missing

pls install the current version avbl on my site for the best results

www.apwiz.com/dbconnect.htm

you can now add data to the imported records as well as edit data that has been imported - v useful
re-export to your backend will be in this week

regards

Hmmmm - interesting. FedEx has broken up with BlueDart (India's largest Courier Co) and DHL has stepped in to fill the space. BlueDart already use my old software across 110 offices as the primary MIS system. See great potential for groove here and am making a presentation this week. would be good to know if DHL have been directly approached by Groove? This is a natural use of groove for customer support.

Finally a decision that everyone is OK with - Our groove centre may be called the GrooveLab - much better than GrooveClinic - the latter connotes that groove is often sick and that is not quite true. For what it achieves, it asks for little by way of support and generates only a fraction of the errors and problems faced by traditional WAN / Web Based applications

however these names have been used quite a bit - by other groovers - i wonder ? anyone i know ?
The other option is GrooveJunction - anyone with suggestions please.

Ok

we promised some new tools and here they are - plus the emerging look and feel of the first GrooveClinic, in India. we have 20 people now available with a wide range of skills and some serious groove knowledge. Expect to hear more from this team as they get going. here are some of the first offerings. still some rough edges but this is early view for critical comment.

1. www.apwiz.com/dbconnect.htm
- the first simple connector to get REAL data into groove - it's free still and we have exposed only some functionality though much is provided for in the DLL - but the real test, single point integration / access to a common data source works !
tell us what do you really need this for and we can fine tune it ? (pls ignore the bit about it being an unsigned tool etc - it no longer is - it will inject with no hassles)

2. www.apwiz.com/multitool.htm
- the proverbial swiss knife - always useful - customize / create new tools in minutes with no programming - with search and print - plus it's multi lingual as any groove App should be.

3. www.apwiz.com/matrix.htm
- 3D worksheets in a single space - the first tool to allow true B2B interaction and the full promise of groove in the marketplace. Use it for RPP's, RFQ's, Budgeting anything that needs multiple private worksheets in a shared space - assignable to one or more members. privacy in public ! Has individual chats with unread marks and bells, RAG and status indicators plus versatile voting capabilities that you can customize.

still to come ......

4. a true e-mail client - the groove conf cost us a little dev time - but the core is done.

5. a behavoural analysis tool that actually tracks how much time people spend in a space, on what tool, doing what - great insight into who is contibuting as well as a must for time billing.

6. a powerful hybrid tool that merges content from goove space to your backend system and back again while providing a rich VB / Form interface for the data management / CRM / Transactions we are all used to - easily scalable to millions of records across thousands of groove spaces - best of both worlds.

plus - as the GrooveClinic gets more traction, expect some industrial strength vertical apps... soon.....starting with a product development / manufacturing system for the aparrel industry... but flexible enough for anyone ...

regards

the url to Rick's joke
http://www.apwiz.com/dear_tech_support.htm

Hi everyone
my apologies for the disappearance - a couple of broken ribs (while climbing some rocks) just before i left for the groove conf. made it a bit difficult to sit on the machine as i am used to. but that's over and much work has been accomplished and i will post it here.

but first, i just got a cute joke from Rick Lillie on tech support - needed that bit of humour - reminded me of my emerging collection of groove jokes ..... http://www.apwiz.com/groove/groovesite.html

- please contribute

this is going to sound strange coming from a pacifist like me, but i never said i was a blind. Some things have to be fought.

What a pity - the UN has again shown itself to be a gutless wonder. So (Mr) Blix (shouldn't Dr. be reserved for free thinkers) and the weapons inspectors want to go back, but don't care that the presidential palaces are out of bounds - joke ? Everything points to the probability that much of the iraqi military complex is underground and access is from the palaces and prisons where the inspectors do not go. and saddam buys more time!

it is sad to see the faces of iraqi children on TV, but the mind cannot help but ask, what are the people being exposed to in iraq that is causing such a hideous outbreak of cancer in this generation of children ?

after the horror faced by coalition troops from the gulf war syndrome, one can only applaud the humans willing to back in there to finish the job - i hold no brief for Bush or war mongering (I'd rather he storm the Nasdaq and raise it to new heights) but the primary job of a president, to protect his country, is a tough one as Sep 11th showed. As we know well in India / Kashmir.

dammed if they do and dammed if they don't...

The Groove developers was a case of Great Expectations (met!)

From the developers point of view they were in fact exceeded, as all of Groove turned out to welcome those who have believed in it from the earliest pre 1.0 days. wonderfull feeling. no other words to describe it.

For Groove too, we believe, it was an eye opener - the tools that the developer community have created add much value, extending the native groove experience and empowering their sales force with real life solutions to their client needs.

But most important was the putting of faces to names, of meeting those (from Management to core development to support) who have been distant friends for so long. This consolidation of a bond between Groove and it's believers and the deep trust that has been established has galvanised the community - it was palpable.

So much so that the follow on PGPA conference never happened, i am not joking. There was no need, as partners, overwhelmend by the flow of imformation and ideas from groove, sat holding bursting heads for a couple of hours, then literally packed up to get back to their systems - time for talk over, time for real work to begin.

Groove and the Partner team deserves all praise for making this anything but one more 'conference' - it was a true meeting of hearts and minds and we cannot express our thanks adequately. maybe another 100,000 seats sold will be the best way. :)

cheers and thanks

to the partners who made the effort to fly in from as far as Japan
and groove for making it truly worth the while.

Hi

first, apologies for the long lag in updating - ironically, too much happening.

most significant being that we are all off to Boston for the Groove Partner's briefing and then the Profession Groove Partners Aasociation conference. 17th-23rd september 2002

i realise now that few people knew about this - should have posted . the events themselves are not secret, only the discussions.

while the core meetings are partners only, the PGPA agenda was up to us and a rare opportunity has been lost - to allocate one day to invite real user (companies) to meet with the developers at one place and chart out a plan for their needs. So much needs discussing that does not compromise NDA.

of course the Magi people can use use this opportunity to "get us all in one place" and .... :) just kidding but if there are folks put there who would like to use this opportunity where all developers will be in the US, to contact and meet up with us, I am sure the pgpa agenda can even now be flexed to include an open session with Groove's blessing.

stupid of me - there is so much concern for NDA etc that it mind blocked us into thinking only internally - while the real need is for us to open out now to the user community - without compromising Grooves own initiatives.

the next pgpa meet for sure must include the target of all our efforts, the end user.

Hi
some people enjoyed this so i include it here
www.apwiz.com/dayinlife.htm

Intel has just signed up with the wired Chief Minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India to train 10,000 teachers "for the future". Is there anyone out there reading this who could connect with someone at Intel and suggest that Groove be used as the primary tool for this??

Further along the lines of EnterPrise Groove

How would / should an actual implementation go - here are some thoughts - as always yours are welcome

www.apwiz.com/ebook.htm

Interesting - I have been asked by a major publisher to explore a new angle on groove books - not another how to book, or there will be a glut, but a real life experience of a groove implementation..

ie. if there is an enterprise out there, doing a full Groove rollout, would they permit an 'observer', supposedly me, to participate and write a book on the whole experience - they would like to publish this under the title "Enterprise Groove" and feel it would really drive acceptance by corp america.

any ideas on whether this is a viable concept would be appreciated. mail to - apwizard@usa.net

Great News. Many of you may know Dr Rick Lillie, who has been effectively using groove in education. He is just back from holiday, throughout which, he continued to be mentor to his students, using PoPG/Groove, from random cyber cafes, effortlessly. He has written to me to say that for the first time, he sees how groove can be fully used in education, and he has sent a message to groove to that effect. Finally all that heartache is paying off. Imagine a world of students who grow up on a product - 5 years down the road they are the CEO's that will buy it. i am thrilled.

also that my tool, statusboard or matrix as we now call it, is running beautifully and helping Dr Lillie manage the progress of his classes more effectively than ever before. there is something about this architecture that makes the simplest toys into something sublime. One day all major apps will be written to run in this decentralized model.

But, the qualitative improvement in actual training is the real bonus.
and better education means a better world. doesn't it ?
i do wonder sometimes.

an article .... http://www.zdnetindia.com/biztech/people/commentary/stories/15266.html

groove seems to have offered search and print,
i say seems to, is this for real, from the top, or just a sop to the forums?
or should one of us do this

clients are losing interest in what they can't print and take home to read in the toilet.

also, will xxx please come out of stealth mode on their search product
at least us know if it is for the masses or just affordable to the fortune 1000
so someone can build one for the plebs.

stealth is good, fellow developers, but remember only real live beta testing from users can polish any product.
if nothing else groove and it's evolution over 2 years is proof of that.

methinks we are stagnating, or going in circles, whatever.
we need a new OS - one that embody's the awareness of people and shared content that groove has,
with the now lost features of the Apple Lisa, that so kindly remembered the source of any information you once sought,
never to be forgotten again....

to make the world of IT easier to use we must make it even more natural.
current OS's are not.
more in this aticle ...

http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/commentary/stories/44445.html

rgds

Ok to business...

so far i have been playing with groove, for groove and others. now I really need to ask you all.

what tool is most important to you, and what would you like to see done to it to make it perfect. and that you would pay for.
what capabilities / tools are totally missing, and you would like us to address.

to test the waters i am releasing 3 tools, each a concept, that i hope you will find fine tuned to a need.
yours !

1. Matrix - multiple 2D workdsheets in a single tool, assignable to one or more members. privacy in a public space, what everyone has been wanting. Plus - it has a neat private chat, per worksheet, with, believe it or not, unread marks and even a bell!!
why can't groove do this if i can ?? available now at www.apwiz.com/matrix.htm
plus an import / export to excel for easy printing and use of templates for anything from RFQ's / Project Costing / departmental Budgets - and it has RAG capabilities for quick status tracking!

2. DBConnector - simple yet totally useful. Import data from any external database, even add to it and edit it in groove, graph it if you like, but above all, share real data from MDB's, SQL. even .DBF files in groove, without the high overhead of Enterprise Integration Server. Under test, out in 1 week, your inputs already welcome. Thanks to SB for prodding this development and my long time freind, partner, guru, Roomy, for building the .dll, to handle every variation, from XML formats to creating a simple remote web service tool so you can safely share data, from anywhere, even across firewalls.

3. a true mail client - no outlook or any thing else - straight to your mail server, into groove. share it with others in a space or just enjoy the experience of a totally secure mail environment - now your contact list will not spawn a thousand viruses.
product under local testing, you can play with it in 2 weeks. inputs welcome now

boy, i warned you, do not open pandora's box by putting me on a blog...

cheers

Ouch

Post shows 12.15 - PM - it ain't even breakfast time yet in India (that should be AM)
trust me to start debugging blogger ?! :)

Hi Guys

Hugh / Vowe / Jeroen and others
thanks for prodding me to start my blog

monster unleashed ??
next you'll be telling me to shut up.

cheers