Idea: Sensible Voting System
Aug 24th
I’m becoming more and more interested in QR code technology. Some of you may know that I built a inventory system in my early 20’s that was later adapted for the postal service in Germany and eventually DHL. So, I’m coming full circle a bit with this newfound curiosity for QR codes. QR codes are a matrix based code that is square in shape and can supply many more bits of data than the standard barcode that you might find on a box of cereal at the grocery store.
So, I started thinking what practical applications QR codes could have for everyday functions. Many things came to mind, but after going through the voting process recently, I came to the conclusion that our voting process, while far better than some countries in the world, are still far behind where they could be. Where I last voted in Tennessee, I first had to register with an elections official at a desk, sign my name in a registry, write my address on a card, then wait while they looked me up in a book of registered voters.
Does it have to be this difficult to vote through a touch screen system? I understand the first step is a process to insure the integrity of the voting process. This integrity could be maintained if the voter were asked to sign in to a touch screen that asks the voter to scan their voting card or put in their social security number, then require the user to complete a fingerprint scan. The sign in screen would then print a voting card that would have a QR code on it. The sign in system is seperate from the voting system. The only information shared in the key id that is within the QR code. This data is encrypted to only be read from one system to the next. The voter scans their card on the voting machine, then once their vote is completed, the QR code is no longer valid. The voter then hands their card to the election official in charge of exiting voters. This is the first exchange between an official and a voter.
Is this concept too much to ask for? With any system that is automated and designed to limit human interaction, uptime and system issues must be kept to a minimum, but assuming all systems are reliable and consistent, why can’t we have a system that works like this?
Once we get this system to work, then we can bypass voting precincts all together and have the voting cards mailed to you or you can print it off the web. From there, you scan the card on your phone, then your fingerprint. And from there you vote through your phone.
Its a big concept, but I trust 100 million Americans voting via smartphones more than I trust anyone voting on a punch system in Florida…
All is Not Dead
Aug 18th
In the most recent edition of Wired Magazine, the cover proclaims “The Web is Dead”. Every so often we have a technology pundit or publication proclaim a technology is dead. Microsoft alone probably has a dozen products that have been proclaimed dead in recent years. Several years back Internet Explorer was declared to be dead. Microsoft Office, dead. Windows Server, dead. I even saw a post about Linux being dead. Don’t tell Apple that. Practically all of their products are based off the Linux kernel.
So what is this “dead” business really all about? Many web developers will tell you that even today, 5 years after it was proclaimed dead, Internet Explorer is still the bane of their creative existence. Apple is hardly feeling the woes of Linux being dead. No, none of these technologies are truly dead. The web is no different. It is impossible to say the web is dead because it is the medium that powers so much. No, the truth is that even if mobile devices completely take over online traffic, they cannot kill the web.
So, web is not dead. Is it at risk to lose its reign as the main medium for online collaboration and communication? Yes. The shift isn’t in our immediate future, but it exists on the horizon and that is enough for those who live on the bleeding edge to acknowledge the medium is yesterday’s news and in their view, it is dead.
The mindset is similar to pundits who cover the stock market. Once a stock reaches a peak and is on a downhill arch, the stock loses its luster and the pundits refocus on the stock that is on the steady climb. This is how many technology pundits see a medium like web. Its upside is no longer as appealing as mobile. And while this is true, there are still people who will profit greatly from the web. Its not dead at all. Its simply no longer the hottest thing going. And thats ok, it had a great run.
The question now is: What steals the luster from mobile? Will it be the complete integration between television units and online services? Wasn’t mobile supposed to kill the television market too? That’s a question that will be answered in the years ahead.
In the meantime, don’t worry about any broad medium wired or any other tech pundit labels as dead. There are plenty of web companies that would fold up tomorrow if the web truly were irrelevant now.
Putting Together a Global Development Network
Apr 25th
One of the first things other developers and entrepreneurs ask me when I talk about products I’ve created over the years and the specific methods I use to get from an idea to an actual tangible product is how a kid from Nashville managed to put together a global network of designers and developers. I always feel the answer is never as simple as they would believe.
How I Connected with Europe
I have developed products as three companies over the years. I started with JennisMedia. It was a modest start up that I was fortunate enough to create a product concept that had a market. It was 1996 and I found IRC chat rooms the easiest forum to connect with others who were doing the same development work I was doing. It was within IRC that I met two very important contacts that held the key to tapping into very inexpensive developers in Europe. The first contact I met was Jergen Groesbeck, a developer from the Netherlands. Jergen immediately started introducing me to other fellow programmers in the Netherlands. Through this network, I was able to build a strong contact list of designers and developers in Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and beyond. The other contact was Slava Vorotaev. Where Jergen was strongly connected in Western Europe, Slava was the man amongst developers in the old Soviet Bloc.
Outsourcing
Quickly, I found myself presented with the option of outsourcing significant amounts of development to small development groups located in countries like Poland, Ukraine and Estonia. Several of my early development partners went on to work for a little start up called Skype (I’m not one bit jealous about it either. Ok, maybe a little). It was a very successful process for me. I opened myself up to the idea of not having 100% control and in return I got products that were well built and matched specs. Now, many will knock this method of getting the work done, but when you’re a entrepreneur on a budget you have to look for every competitive advantage available. Working through cheap overseas was the price I was willing to pay to get ahead. And get ahead I did.
The Fall and Rise
For several years, it felt like shipping work over the Eastern Europe was a dying trend. I was convinced it was dead the day I learned of European shops outsourcing their work to Bangalore. But, with the rise of the Euro and Eastern European countries still on their old currencies, their money suddenly didn’t go as far as it once did. Combine this with the fact that Twitter’s success has brought developers from around the world into conversations that they would never had participated with otherwise and outsourcing to Eastern Europe is on the rise again. Its easier now to procure talent from overseas than it was when I first started doing it over a decade ago.
Getting Connected
If you really want to connect with cheap global development options, here is how I might go about doing it in 2009: The first step has to be getting involved in Twitter. Finding developers who seem to share a common development philosophy is a huge first step. Once you’ve connected on Twitter, Skype is an absolute requirement. You may user Google Talk/Grand Central, AIM or another IM product, but the overwhelming majority of European programmers are on Skype first and foremost. Skype also provides a cheap communications tool to those countries where you might otherwise rack up huge phone charges really quick. The third tool you must have is PayPal. You have to pay them somehow and even though they lose 3% with PayPal, they know its about the only way to securely get money into Eastern Europe, especially Russia and Ukraine.
Now that you’ve connected with some developers, if you want to have a long term relationship where everyone is on the same page, then pack your bags. The face to face meeting is essential to the success of any long distance development partnership. It always help if you’re a seasoned traveler who doesn’t appear out of place when you meet your new contact in Moscow’s Red Square or by Charles Bridge in Prague. You’re new contact will be impressed that you’ve traveled the distance to formally secure the relationship, but doing so like a tourist will be a sure sign of how green you truly are as a global developer.
Finally, don’t be afraid to reach out if you are an entrepreneur looking to get ahead. Nobody’s going to fault you for doing what you have to do to succeed. Once you have succeeded in your venture, that is the time to start bringing more work to people in your backyard. You may decide that you would rather have everything local. You have a better chance of maintaining full control over your projects. It will come at some cost though.
If your interested in making European connections, check out my first European partners @groesbeck and @slavav on Twitter.