I was promoted a couple of weeks ago. This was something totally unexpected but it turns out that I am now just a step away from becoming a Distinguished Engineer at IBM, which just a month ago seemed like an impossible goal to achieve. It won’t be easy but I will certainly do my best to try to reach that position.

The best part of the promotion is that I got a larger, closed office. When you spend as many hours as I do at work, you want to feel at home at work. I therefore decided to decorate the walls by hanging pictures of all the tech luminaries that have left their mark on the computer industry as well as the products they brought to market. In a way,this is my personal Computer Hall of Fame.

Well, it turns out that this is much easier said than done. If you look on the web you will not easily find many pictures or stories from our recent past. Try for example looking for images of Sir Clive Sinclair (the man who brought us the ZX 81 and the ZX Spectrum computers) and you will be disappointed by the results. Same story for Sir Alan Sugar, the founder of Amstrad, who brought us the CPC 464 back in the eighties. You may think that this only happens to brit aristocrats, but you would be wrong. I tried to find a picture of former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner and could only find a small picture on IBM’s corporate site. Even worse, I could only find two poor quality pictures of Adam Osborne, the man who brought us the first commercially available portable computer, and passed away just five years ago. There isn’t much information about him in Wikipedia either.

In general, most companies will carry current pictures of their top executives but except for a small number of honorable exceptions (IBM and H-P mainly) they don’t seem to care much about preserving their history. The situation is obviously much worse for dead companies like Netscape, Amstrad or Atari which do not have curators interested in preserving their legacy.

With the Internet focusing mainly on recent events, if we are not careful, in a couple of years we will have lost a large part of our recent history. There are a couple of nice sites that deserve praise, for example folklore.org which extensively documents the history of how the original Macintosh was built, but that is obviously not enough. It would be nice if there was a place for all of us to collaborate on preserving the exciting stories of the computing revolution. On wikia there are 28,586 Star Trek articles, but there is nothing comparable for the computer history. That is really sad.

Last year over 5,000 persons attended WWDC. At the time it represented a new record for the annual Apple developer event. The result was fueled by the imminent launch Mac OS X Leopard. This year, with 25 days to go before Steve Jobs addresses developers at the keynote speech, Apple has announced that for the first time ever, the conference has sold out.

I am sure that most do not realize the significance of this announcement. In the past, Apple has used many dirty tricks to artificially increase the number of attendants to WWDC. For example, there used to be a separate conference for Quicktime content creators. I believe that Apple cancelled that event two years ago and folded it within WWDC. Last year there was a session track for web developers, presumably to pave the way for new web applications targeting iPhone users. The result was that if you engaged in conversation with people you didn’t know you were likely to find out that they had absolutely no clue about Objective-C or XCode.

This year things are likely to be quite different. Apple no longer needs tricks to fill Moscone West up. Gone are the tracks for web developers and video content creators. There still is a track for System Administrators but the rest of the sessions are designed exclusively for developers. This means that even if attendance only grows to six thousand (the Convention Center was already packed last year), this will still represent a very significant increase in the number of real programmers attending the event. It is a clear sign that many of those 200,000 persons who downloaded the iPhone SDK are actually using it and want to be prepared for the launch of the app store at the end of June. This is going to be the best WWDC ever!

Earlier today, Ryan Naraine reported for eWeek that “PayPal, one of the brands most spoofed in phishing attacks, is working on a plan to block its users from making transactions from Web browsers that don’t provide anti-phishing protection”. The reason behind this decision is that “browsers that do not have support for blocking identity theft-related Web sites or for EV SSL (Extended Validation Secure Sockets Layer) certificates are considered ‘unsafe’ for financial transactions”.

This announcement has generated a lot of concern among Mac users since Safari, the most widely used browser on that platform does not support EV SSL. Even though I do use Safari as my main browser on both Mac and Windows, I do agree with the decision. The reason is simple, even though it is very simple to avoid phishing attacks on any computer by just pointing your DNS information to OpenDNS, few know how to do it or even understand how phishing works. Those who complain about the decision are obviously not aware of the size of the phishing attacks and the amount of fraud they represent. If PayPal’s decision forces Apple to implement EV SSL support into Safari, I will certainly not complain. It is great to have a fast and standards compliant browser, but security for the technologically challenged users should be a major concern for Apple.

However, there are more reasons to back PayPal’s decision. Too many users are still using old browsers and this his slowing down the adoption of new technologies. I would love to see more companies to stop supporting old versions of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. That would really give web developers an opportunity to create great innovative applications. Right now, people too often prefer to use those old versions because there are still sites that require them. If large sites start requiring newer browser versions, those old sites will face increased pressure to modernize. That cannot be bad for the industry or the end-users.

Once again I am having trouble to register for WWDC. Last year my problem was that I couldn’t buy the ticket through the online Apple Store because there simply was no Mexican Apple Store. In the end I could solve the problem by using a mail forwarding address that I have in the US. This year I expected to be able to register quickly since Apple finally opened their online store south of the border. Well, it seems that I was overly optimistic. Everything went fine until I actually paid for the e-ticket. As you can see, the estimated total cost was 13,999 pesos, which is a fair price based on the current exchange rate. Note that there are no taxes (IVA) which makes sense since this is an event that takes place in the US.

Since I did not receive an e-mail confirmation, I decided to check the status of my order. I was shocked to see that the amount of my order was now MXP16,098.85 or MXP2,099.85 more than I expected to pay. The difference is caused by a 15% tax. This has to be a mistake because the Mexican government does not collect taxes on services provided in another country. Otherwise, I would also have to pay taxes in Mexico when booking a hotel room in the US which is simply ridiculous.

I obviously called the Apple Store to solve the problem. As expected nobody had complained about that problem before and the person who tried to help me didn’t understand the problem immediately. It took me a while to explain why this product shouldn’t cause taxes but once he saw the discrepancy he asked me to hold while he asked his supervisor for help. After a couple of minutes he told me that his supervisor was not available and that he would call me back. He hasn’t. Since using a mail forwarding address doesn’t work anymore, I will have to call him back tomorrow to try to solve the problem. Frankly, I am not happy about this situation.

I already knew that Apple is definitively not a global company. They focus mainly on the US and a couple of major markets in Europe and Asia. They seem to be unable or unwilling to grow elsewhere. Just look at the iPhone fiasco. It has almost been a year since the product was launched in the US and it is only available in five additional countries. If you happen to live outside of one of the chosen countries you are out of luck. Developers in Brazil, Russia, India and China are left in the cold. It doesn’t matter that their economies are growing fast, Steve doesn’t care. You may think that there aren’t many Mac or iPhone developers in those countries, and who knows, you may be right. I still believe that nobody should be excluded. After all, popular Mac software like The Print Shop or Kid Pix Deluxe are developed by Software MacKiev, a company based in Ukraine, a country which, unsurprisingly, has no Apple Store.

I just read an editorial on The Mac Observer in which John Martellaro writes that Microsoft Retail Stores would fail. He bases his conclusion on the poor reception Vista has had in the market so far, specially among consumers, and the fact that Microsoft seems to have lost interest in that segment of the population.

I totally disagree. For starters, Microsoft currently produces one of the most successful consumer electronics device, the XBox 360. Microsoft could easily fill up any Apple Store just with Xbox 360 games and accesories. Then there is the Zune. Sure, that MP3 player isn’t nearly as sexy as the iPod touch but I could see more people buying it if it were properly showcased. Microsoft could also sell phones based on Windows mobile made by their hardware partners. Those phones are certainly not state of the art but they (almost) work as advertised and appeal to a segment of the population. Microsoft also produces some PC hardware that includes keyboards and mice which are quite popular. And then obviously there is software, Windows and Office of course, but let’s not also forget that there is much more, like the Microsoft Expression Suite which is a decent collection of products and finally highly popular PC games like Age of Empires or Flight Simulator. So, the perception that Microsoft does not have products that are compelling for consumers is totally wrong.

People also tend to assume that Microsoft would be unable to match the Apple shopping experience. I am not sure what they mean by that. Sure, Apple’s sales force tends to be nice and knowledgeable but having run a small chain of Apple retail stores for three years about ten years ago, I know that this is relatively easy to achieve when you only handle a small number of SKUs. The secret of Apple’s success has to be found somewhere else. You want to know what it is? Easy. People go to the Apple Store because it is usually one of the only stores in the mall that appeals to men (although not exclusively), and because there is free internet access. That was the genius behind choosing malls to open stores. People usually don’t go to Best Buy or Fry’s to just hang out, instead they go to a mall where there are more entertainment and food options. And where do men go when they are tired of watching the women apparel that their wives or girlfriends want to buy? That’s right, they go to the Apple Store. WHy? Because there simply aren’t many other options (and it could get even worse if The Sharper Image goes out of business.

There is a reason that explains why Apple hasn’t yet opened stores in Germany, France or Spain. Those countries haven’t embraced the retail shopping mall model like the US, the UK or even Mexico. It has to do with expensive and scarce real estate in downtown areas where affluent people use to shop. In those countries you may find malls in the suburbs but they will usually not house luxury or premium brands. You could argue that not all Apple Stores are located in malls, and you would be right. In fact all flagship stores (San Francisco, New York, Chicago. Tokyo and London) are on busy streets, but only major markets support that model. The problem is finding great locations for smaller stores. Nothing prevents Apple to open a flagship store on the Champs Élisées in Paris or Serrano in Madrid but where does Apple grow from there if there are no (suitable) malls?

Apple has great products but analysts and Apple enthusiasts must understand that many of those who enter the company stores do it often simply because of a lack of better options. That is great for Apple because it generates a disproportionate amount of foot traffic, but most of those people would probably welcome a little competition. I love Apple but I also like to spend some time at a Sony store, specially if the alternative is spending time at Zara or Coach. I am sure that if Microsoft decides to open new retail stores and like Apple places them in malls, they will be able to get a fair share of that traffic. Wether Microsoft deserves it or not is a different matter.

Yesterday evening I was invited to have dinner at a chinese restaurant, Wing Lei,located inside the Wynn Hotel and Casino. It was a great occasion to spend some time with our customers and talk about all things unrelated to business. I must say however that I was highly disappointed by the restaurant. While I do not have any complaints about the service, I must say that I expected more from a restaurant that was awarded a star by the Guide Michelin. We paid around US$200 per guest and left disappointed and hungry.

Since the Wynn is located in front of the Fashion Show Mall, I spent some time shopping there before dinner. I went into the Apple Store to buy new earbuds for my iPhone because the plastic had started to wear off near the jack connector due to intense use. I was surprised to see that they sent me immediately to the Genius Bar and that they gave me new earbuds without asking questions despite the fact that it was clear that my phone was jailbroken and unlocked. Great customer service! That is why Apple is winning the hearts of even the most diehard Windows users.

In my previous post I wrote about my years at Collège Calvin. I have fond memories of Geneva, but I particularly cherish those years. It was at this high-school that I met my first girlfriend, Karine and it was also there that I worked on my first mini computer. The system was built by Prime Computer that was running an OS that vaguely resembled UNIX, which is not surprising once you know that some of the company founders had previously worked at MIT on Multics. The sys-admin was particularly proud of the two 5GB hard disks that he had named Castor and Pollux. At the time that was a lot of capacity but students still had to buy 8” floppy drives to store their own data as disk space was severely restricted for regular accounts. Despite its flaws, the system was cutting edge in 1981, specially if we consider the fact that all public high schools were part of the network. Students used the system to learn assembly language, Pascal, Fortran and Modula-2 programming. As a result, Geneva has produced many great developers who have continued their education at world class institutions like the EPFL or the University of Geneva. One of the best known Mac developers of that generation is Antoine Rosset, creator of OsiriX, who I met a couple of times through a common friend. He seems to be back in Geneva after living a couple of years in the bay area like another of my friends Pierre Demartines.

The fact is that Geneva has always invested a lot in education and I will always be grateful for that decision. I am happy to see that this tradition goes on. I was reading one of the local papers yesterday (La Tribune de Genève) when I saw this article (in French) that talked about the local government decision to dump Windows in favor of Linux (Ubuntu) on about 9,000 PCs in public schools. Athough Geneva is not the first canton (state) in Switzerland to take this decision, that honor goes to Solothurn (or Soleure in French) which took the same decision one month earlier, it is still a very significant step forward that others will probably follow in the near future. Good for them!

Founded by John Calvin, the Collège Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland, will soon turn 450 years old. On February 24, 1428, the Conseil Général of Geneva decided to establish a collège in Rive (now downtown). In it was taught the liberal arts and universitary studies, which Genevan people had previously had to go abroad to study. After the Protestant Reformation, school was made obligatory as well as free for poor people. However, it wasn’t until May 29, 1559, after the enactment of the Leges Academiae Genevensis (Order of the Collège de Genève) that work actually began on building a new official Collège de Genève. When it was finally inaugurated, students didn’t have much time for fun, working generally for sixty hours a week or even more. But then, nobody should really be surprised, Protestant theologians were not famous for their sense of humor. What they appreciated was hard work and dedication which is why they started a tradition of excellency by recognizing every year the best students at a ceremony called “Promotions”

The Collège de Genève was renamed the Collège Calvin in 1969. Many things have changed since the school was founded, theology and latin are long gone, but the school still provides great education, free, now to everyone and the “Promotions” still reward the canton’s best students every year and have grown into a significant festivity in a town not exactly known for being fun (clean and safe yes but fun, certainly not).

I didn’t stay very long at Calvin, just under two years, from 1981 to 1983, because my father was transferred to Spain. I must say though that those years were probably among the most productive of all my student years. Sure, we had some excellent teachers, like Mme Lejeune, who I will always remember because she was able to inspire us with mediaeval literature (which was no small feat), but that wasn’t the only reason. There is just something about old schools that inspires a level of respect that modern buildings simply cannot easily reproduce or even replace with technology. It may have been the mystery of what may have been hidden behind the old doors or the implicit pressure to be up to the legacy of a school that has produced some great alumni like Jorge Luis Borges or red-cross founder Henry Dunant. Who knows? It doesn’t really matter. Whatever it was, I could sense it and that is why my short stay at this school will always be one of the most important parts of my life.

Speaking of old schools, I must say that I feel very lucky to have attended two other schools loaded with history. I attended elementary school at the École des Cropettes, also in Geneva, surrounded by a large park where kids could feed the squirrels that lived on the trees. Later on I went to Sécheron, a school housed in a large 19th century building next to the park bordering Lake Geneva.

It is easy to say that good students can learn at any school, but the truth is that a good environment can make the process much easier. Buildings like those really make it easy to love going to school. When I see some of the public schools here in Mexico I cannot avoid thinking that in order to improve education there is still so much work needed, better teachers, smaller classes, improved security and last but not least, much better buildings that make schools much more compelling to kids.

Fitna is a short movie created by a Dutch politician and lawmaker about the threat Islam poses to the Western World.

The movie basically reminds people of many of the brutal unacceptable acts performed by radical fanatical islamists over the years. It is not a strong reminder of the dangers of religion. In some ways this movie reminds me of the attempts of many Europeans to warn against the thread posed by Hitler in the nineteen thirties. Nobody listened and people preferred to ignore the problem thinking that it couldn’t be as bad as these pesky protesters claimed. We all know what happened.

The Western world cannot accept threats to his citizens who are just exercising their free speech rights. We must also openly fight for the rights of dissidents, women, gays and all those who live in fear in Islamic countries. It is great to denounce Scientology for being a business or express outrage at China because of what is happening in Tibet, but the truth is that all this is just peanuts compared to what is happening daily in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen or even Saudi Arabia. It is our obligation to denounce human rights violations everywhere in the world, independently of what caused them (a ruthless dictator, historical neighbor hate tread or a holy book), and clearly state them as morally unacceptable. This has nothing to do with liberty of cult.

Fitna was originally posted on liveleak where it was viewed by millions, but it had to be removed because of serious threats to the company workers. However, it can still be found here. It is also available on Bittorrent.

Last December I wrote that upgrading my iPhone to firmware 1.1.2 was not such a great idea. The reason was simple, the update made it impossible to control my iPhone from the harman/kardon drive+play device installed in my car. Since the next firmware update didn’t fix the problem, I started to think that I would have to give up on my beloved gadget since it pre-dated the iPhone and therefore could not be expected to properly work with it.

I am happy to report that my fears were totally unfounded. Apple fixed the problem with the release of firmware 1.1.4. I can now once again control the music playback from the drive+play wheel controller and the information appears correctly on the display, as expected. I am really relieved because I had been looking for alternative solutions and so far haven’t found a good solution that supports the iPhone, eliminating all GSM interference and supporting hands free conversations. Now that my current solution works again I can wait patiently for a better solution to get to market.

I have also learned that the problem was no limited to harman/kardon’s device. I have a friend who uses a completely different solution to play back music from the iPhone in his car and he had faced similar problems.