Software updates are a fact of life, and most are done reasonably well. As it should be because software is about as far removed from perfection as anything could possibly be, a reality that may have something to do with the Incompleteness Theorem by Godel, possibly related to the Heisenberg Compensator in Star Trek, or otherwise one of the mysteries of life. Software updates are ways of fixing old mistakes and introducing new ones, in a kind of perpetual cycle. Some of these updates, like the one that did us in the other day, can create all kinds of problems that take a while to figure out, during which the organization is basically shut down. Most updates have cursory warnings, but this one had only a cryptic notice that the update was underway; no by-your-leave, and certainly no you are about to be thrown over a cliff warning. The new Help system was like the old one, vaguely describing what we actually have, and grammatically correct but devoid of meaning. It is a big company whose product update did us in, with customer service by email only, reinforced by a main phone number that is not connected to voicemail, a fax number that never picks up, and a log file that cannot be reset and in any event is totally meaningless. Bad as it was for a day, it did reinforce some lessons that we have reapplied to our software products: 1) Explain what is going to be changed and why, with effected file names; 2) Get a double confirmation from the customer before starting the update; 3) Backup the existing system before performing the update proper; 4) Never change customer configuration data; 5) Provide for registration keys to be copied into the clipboard; 6) Have a global reset/revert button in case another update changes our assumed environment. Above all, have respect for the time, energy comfort and sanity of the customer.

Jim Rapoza wrote an interesting article (SaaS Access in the 5 May 08 eWeek magazine pp35-43), that describes the next browser architecture as something very much like a remake of (IBM) 327x technology, with an additional  overhead layer. This, along with the adjacent article by Ryan Naraine on the Opus Palladium browser project at UI-Urbana-Champaign, suggests to me that one lock-in may be exchanged for another. Perhaps the devil we know isin’t so bad after all.

In 2004 Dan Herchenroether wrote a book named Selling Air (www.sellingair.com), a fictional account of a software company during the tech bubble, with much of the action taking place in Silicon Valley. This came to mind the other day when I read a piece (at www.eweek.com/c/a/Content-Creation/Adobe-Launches-Open-Screen-Project/) about the Adobe Integrated Runtime, or AIR for short. Seems to be a pretty good thing, but the acronym somehow doesn’t suggest stability and reliability. The name probably sounds good to the techies, but I’m not sure the suits will grasp what it all can mean. I enjoyed the book; hope the product doesn’t have a similar conclusion.

I play the jazz station KKJZ for background in my office, and occasionally hear something that is really intriguing. The latest is the album Imagina, Songs of Brazil, by Karrin Allyson (www.karrin.com), which I’ve added to my MP3 player that I listen to when exercising in the morning and taking occasional walks. The upbeat music certainly puts a positive sheen on everything. I don’t have a clue what the song lyrics are, but the Portuguese seems to add a special flavor of lightness and life. I’ve never been to Brazil, but have been to Portugal, which is decidedly European. Maybe the language as spoken (and sung) in Brazil has a special New World kicker that makes it different from the Mother country. Highly recommended for Jobim and jazz lovers.