Boundless Flight

We're Moving!

2009-08-21T10:13:00.003-04:00

Our new address!
www.BoundlessFlight.wordpress.com

Not too long ago, this blog (Blogger) had a run-in with the automatic robot team at Google. I mean that it was automatically flagged as a Spam-Blog. We waited about a month for the automatic robot Clean-Up team at Google to automatically run through its system to verify that we are real people behind the scenes at www.BoundlessFlight.blogspot.com .

In the meantime, another blog was created for Boundless Flight, Inc. That one can be found at www.BoundlessFlight.wordpress.com . I have gone into more detail on our experience and what I learned about URL redirection services and the effect they can have on blogs and other internet communications.

Why do we use social media?

2009-06-04T15:21:00.004-04:00

People used to live in fear of the internet and the information that might be exploited by maleficent forces.

Those days are gone.

Step one was buying our computers, software, flowers, birthday gifts, hotel reservations and airline tickets over the internet EVERY DAY. That was actually a pretty smooth transition even through the .net bust. It slowed, but it never redirected nor ceased.

Step two is MUCH more exciting. Many of us have spent hours documenting who we are and connecting virtually every important person to us through LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, or Twitter. Our family members, friends, job histories, skills, recommendations, references, and even our management behavior profiles from PRADCO are displayed openly on LinkedIn. Our high school sweethearts from 30 years ago are there, the guy I ran over in the shopping center parking lot is there (so sorry, Scott!), and I even found my best drywall hanging partner ever in CA. NO one moved through the studs faster with a 12' sheet of 5/8" Firecode than me and Smedley. NO ONE! (;>)

If you can't figure out who I am through my profiles and dialogs on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter...you aren't trying.

Why are we doing it? Because we enjoy knowing and being known by people who enhance or once enhanced our existence with their love, knowledge, energy, enthusiasm, and success. When we find ourselves surrounded by people who inspire us with their qualities, it is uplifting. That is why we worship movie stars; they are us on the screen - extended to levels of brilliance, strength, righteousness, and vision that we mere mortals can only pray for. We set aside who they are in real life and focus only on the character they have created on the screen.

I am connected with Marc Fleury because he is one of the most brilliant and simultaneously audacious technicians I have ever known. I am inspired by his
risk-taking and success. I am happy to have him in my movie.

I am connected with Gregory Morrison because he projects what all of us who went to Kellogg aspired to at the time - imminent professionalism, incredibly focused business savvy, and of boundless value to his company. Gregory is welcome anytime, anywhere.

I am connected to Celeste Murphy because I love her "fight", I am inspired that she is working SO hard to succeed, so unwilling to accept limitations and barriers to her own happiness. She is a winner.

My connections motivate me to be a better person, humble me frequently, inspire me when I am looking for extra breath, and keep me in my place. What a rich life.

Thank you, all.

It is a wonderful time to be alive,

- Baney!

What the remainder of 2009 will bring for Boundless Flight, Inc.

2009-05-27T10:32:00.002-04:00

A well-known local executive related the following to me last week as we were talking about an upcoming engagement opportunity: "... please don't bring in a bunch of PMP's and expect that to be a magic bullet. I gave up on that a long time ago."

Boundless Flight, Inc. has been focused on developing a uniquely qualified team to provide the best project management support services centered around MS Project Server 2007 and MS Project Portfolio Server 2007. We have dedicated ourselves to these tools largely because we KNOW them well and they are available in a highly cost-effective SaaS model. Our sales in this area have been steadily growing for two years.

At the same time we dedicated ourselves to the Microsoft tools, we also dedicated ourselves to the Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute. We believe it can truly provide a measureable differentiator in the project management profession. But the executive's statement above is correct; a project manager's PMP does not guarantee excellent management skills.

That is why we have added a third leg to our PMO Support Services stool - PRADCO. PRADCO, located right here in Chagrin Falls, OH, provides a mature set of managerial behavior profiling tools and a team dedicated to the project management profession. The ability to profile behavior tendencies takes much of the guesswork out of the hiring, reduction, and restructuring processess so many corporations are finding themselves in these days. It is so much easier to, for example, move Stan onto the already-behind CRM software implementation team KNOWING he handles pressure well rather than relying on someone's sense or intuition regarding Stan's abilities.

Boundless Flight, Inc. now offers

A complete suite of project management TOOLS centralized around Microsoft's core
The ability to design, develop, train, and implement project management PROCESSES, guides, tools, KPI's, information distribution flows
The ability to objectively assess the expected BEHAVIORS of project managers and coach them into increased project quality due to their improved management skills.

Stay tuned - we have the solution for our executive friend.

Cleveland TECHnic Summer Picnic - June 20, 2009

2009-05-20T09:07:00.006-04:00

Boundless Flight, Inc.

and our friends at
BlueBridge Networks

Best Technology Strategy

e-Ventus

Technical Search Consultants

the Great Lakes Geek

PRADCO

Cleveland Java Users Group

Bring you TECHnic!

Your family, friends, fellow workers AND YOU are invited to join us in beautiful Parma, Ohio for TECHnic! The best chance in Cleveland to enjoy summer fun with the many technicians, developers, and other IT firms in Northeast Ohio.

Saturday, June 20, from 10am and into the evening!

Food and Beverage
Music and Merry
Fun and Frolic

Cowboy George, the Director of Deliciousness (DoD) will provide delectible sauces to enjoy with our picnic delights!

CowboyGeorge's
BlazeGourmet
Sauces&Rubs

We will be there rain or shine, plenty of room for everyone under the HUGE pavilion.

Musical entertainment includes (but is not limited to) the famed Dan Shaw Trio playing the best jazz this side of Lake Erie AND Ted Wallingford, guitarist extraordinaire!

Modern facilities include full kitchen and bathrooms.

The picnic grounds have a sand volleyball court and a playground.

Companies and organizations: Would you like to participate? Give us a call and we'll talk about ways to get you visibility!

Register at www.BoundlessFlight.com
Click on the 'Sign Up' button

St. Sava's Picnic Grove
2300 W Ridgewood Dr
Parma, OH 44129

April Java Users Group Meeting 4/8/09

2009-04-06T17:02:00.004-04:00

Sun Microsystems and Boundless Flight, Inc.
proudly sponsor the
Cleveland Java Users Group Meeting

Next Meeting:
April 8, 2009

Check www.meetup.com/cleveland-java/ to RSVP!

Please note special location:
LeanDog Software
1151 N Marginal Rd
Cleveland, OH 44114

Agenda:

5:30pm – 6:00pm ~> Eat, Drink & Network

6:00pm – 6:15pm ~> Recap Previous Meeting & New Business

6:15pm - 8:00pm ~> Presentation on Test Driven Development & Refactoring

From Wikipedia: Test-driven development (TDD) is a software development technique that uses short development iterations based on pre-written test cases that define desired improvements or new functions. Each iteration produces code necessary to pass that iteration's tests. Finally, the programmer or team refactors the code to accommodate changes. A key TDD concept is that preparing tests before coding facilitates rapid feedback changes. Note that test-driven development is a software design method, not merely a method of testing.

The staff at LeanDog have several years of experience assisting Java development teams adopt agile practices, including TDD. In addition, LeanDog has taught TDD concepts and practices for the past five years for both Java and C++. This presentation will review some of the key concepts from their course and end with observations and experiences from coaching engagements.

Our Speaker, Jeff 'Cheezy' Morgan, says:
"For the past five years I have taught a 3 day TDD course for both Java and C++. I have recently worked with a local developer to create a C# version of this course as well. I also have years of experience helping Java development teams adopt agile practices including TDD. The presentation could take some of the key concepts from my course and then end with some of my observations from my coaching engagements."

http://twitter.com/JavaUsers

Prepare for Easter Dinner with a Wine Tasting on 4/2

2009-03-31T10:46:00.004-04:00

Easter Dinner
Wine Pairing

April 2, 6 - 9pm

$15 per person
$25 per couple

Martin's Deli
20505 Detroit Rd.
Rocky River

Sample wines which are an excellent compliment to your April Holiday celebrations. We will be tasting the following wines along with hors d'oeuvres created from favorite Easter dinner selections.

Franciscan Chardonnay, Napa
Estancia Chardonnay, Monterey
Kenwood Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
Estancia Pinot Noir, Monterey
Bogle Riesling, California
ArsVitis Riesling, Germany

For wine tasting information email martinsdeli@gmail.com
or call the Rocky River store at 440-331-4410

www.MartinsDeli.com

www.Twitter.com/MartinsDeli

Martin's Deli thanks Boundless Flight for their generous support.

Congratulations go out to Roxy Giusca, GIS Principal, Boundless Flight

2009-03-11T10:08:00.006-04:00

Boundless Flight is proud of our own Roxana Giusca, PhD, Geographical Information Systems (GIS). She is currently deployed to Pioneer Electric Cooperative in southwest Ohio.

In the February edition of the Pioneer EC Update Roxy was congratulated along with the rest of her team for the successful installation of the new tool.

Roxy developed this application from an idea provided by Tom Musick, Dir. of Operations at Pioneer.

This brief article was taken from Pioneer's internal newsletter:

Pioneer Electric Cooperative Update

Outage & Blinking Lights Tool

Tom Musick, Director of Operations, provided a demonstration of an exciting new tool that will enable Pioneer to pinpoint problem outage or blink areas before members (customers) call in. This, in combination with their Member Interactive Voice Response (IVR) automated calling unit, will give them the set of tools they can use to proactively communicate to members concerning their service issues. Member surveys say reliable electricity services are their number one priority. The better Pioneer communicates in this area the more satisfied the members will be.

Thanks to Roxy Giusca, Kris Johnson and Lynn Maniaci for their work with Tom Musick to make the new tool a working reality - great job!

March Meeting announcement for CJUG

2009-03-09T10:50:00.001-04:00

Sun Microsystems and Boundless Flight, Inc.
proudly sponsor the

Cleveland Java Users Group

Next Meeting:March 11, 2009

3 Summit Park DriveLower Level Auditorium
Independence, OH 44131

Agenda

5:30pm – 6:00pm ~> Eat, Drink & Network

6:00pm – 6:15pm ~> Recap Previous Meeting & New Business

6:15pm - 8:00pm ~> Presentation on Groovy and Grails by Christopher Judd and Jim Shingler

Overview of Groovy and Grails
Java has become the dominate software development platform today. But unfortunately being over a decade old, the Java language and many of the associated web frameworks are starting to show their age. Organizations are finding it difficult to be agile and productive with these technologies. However with large infrastructure, process and training investments in the Java platform, organizations can’t justify start over from scratch with a new platform.

Enter Groovy and Grails. Groovy is a dynamic language built on top of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) with copy and paste compatibility with the Java language but also contains modern day language features like closures and properties. Grails is a web framework and development platform built on top of standard Java frameworks like Spring and Hibernate but simplifies them by using convention over configuration. This combination makes web development on the Java Platform extremely agile while leveraging current investments and the large Java ecosystem.

Christopher M. Judd

Christopher Judd is the president and primary consultant for Judd Solutions, LLC, an international speaker, an open source evangelist, the Central Ohio Java Users Group leader, and the coauthor of Beginning Groovy and Grails (Apress 2008), Enterprise Java Development on a Budget (Apress, 2003). He has spent 12 years architecting and developing software for Fortune 500 companies in various industries, including insurance, retail, government, manufacturing, and transportation. His current focus is consulting, mentoring, and training with Java, Java EE, Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME), mobile technologies, and related technologies.

Jim Shingler

Jim Shingler is Lead Technical Architect for Big Lots, co-founder of open source project FallME, and co-author of "Beginning Groovy and Grails". The focus of his career has been using leading-edge technology to develop IT solutions for the insurance, financial services, and manufacturing industries. He has 11 years of large-scale Java experience and significant experience in distributed and relational technologies.

www.Twitter.com/JavaUsers

Boundless Flight at Martin's Deli Wine Tasting : 2/12/09

2009-02-13T09:54:00.001-05:00

Wine Tasting at Martin's Deli in

Rocky River, by the

Boundless Flight HQ

Martin's Deli - White Wine Tasting

February 12, 2009

E.J. - third generation

Martin's Deli chef/ operator

Cleveland Java Users Group Meeting : February 11, 2009

2009-02-12T09:05:00.000-05:00

I-Phone demonstration by Randy Beiter at the

February Meeting of the Cleveland Java User Group

Cleveland Java User Group Team Leader / Organizer

Scott Seighman gives updates on Java during CJUG meeting

Cleveland Java Users Group -Pizza, Beer & Java

- sadly, no pictures from the Winking Lizard on Rockside Road after party

Cleveland Java User Group Meeting

February 11, 2008 from 5:30 - 8:00pm

Heidi Hooper of Boundless Flight with John from Progressive of the great blue sweater

Gary Baney of Boundless Flight and Debbie Lincoff of IBM at the Cleveland C-JUG Meeting

Cleveland Java Users Group Meeting : 2 -11 - 2009

2009-02-10T09:23:00.001-05:00

Cleveland Java Users Group
Next meeting:
February 11, 2009, 5:30pm

3 Summit Park DriveLower Level Auditorium
Independence, OH 44131

Agenda

~~~~~~~~~

5:30pm – 6:00pm ~>

Eat, Drink & Network

6:00pm – 6:15pm ~>

Recap Previous Meeting & New Business

6:15pm - 8:00pm ~>

Java JME Mobile Development Presentation

Presentation by Randy Beiter

With an increasing emphasis on mobility, IT organizations are developing and deploying more mobile applications than ever. With a broad range of mobile operating systems, application frameworks, and developer tools to choose from, the importance of defining and executing the right mobile applications strategy can’t be overstated. In this months session, we will explore developer's options, key issues for software developers and IT organizations who need to understand how best to create and deploy applications software for the exciting new generation of smart mobile devices. We will focus on two popular options, Java ME and iPhone environments.
Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) is a collection of technologies and specifications to create a platform that fits the requirements for mobile devices such as consumer products, embedded devices, and advanced mobile devices.

Initially introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007, the iPhone has quickly become one of the hottest mobile devices on the market. Randy Beiter will review the iPhone development environment and discuss what you need to begin with the iPhone SDK, including the development tools, technologies and processes necessary to create and deploy applications for iPhone.

Randy Beiter is the Chief Software Engineer at iNomadics, Inc. A self-proclaimed “lifetime technologist,” Randy is the co-inventor of two patented software processes. In addition he is a Sun-certified Java developer who has served in multiple capacities throughout his 15 year career including technical expert, project leader and mentor. Prior to joining iNomadics, Randy served as a Senior Software Engineer for Oracle Corporation, BEA Systems, and Flashline, Inc. and as a Systems Analyst for Book Stacks Unlimited which is recognized as the first online retail establishment. Randy graduated from Cleveland State University with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science.

Why Cleveland has got to PLAY BALL

2009-01-29T14:47:00.000-05:00

This short story begins when I was teaching a section of MIDS-411 at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve Univesity in 2003. I had asked Jennifer Thomas, now the director of the Civic Innovation Lab, to be a guest presenter to the class on the topic of "Why it is good to stay in Cleveland after graduation". Jennifer provided a wonderfully energetic view of Cleveland, recounted several very positive local trends and then, at the end of her presentation, asked the class (approx. 32 students) how many intended to stay in Cleveland after graduation.

ONE ...

ONE!

One hand went up confidently and another two "kinda" went up but would not firmly commit. The one hand that went up, (Patrick) did indeed stay in Cleveland and remained employed by Case Western Reserve University for quite a while after graduation.

Jennifer and I lamented the response afterward. I spoke about it several times after the event, only to be assured I was misreading the trends and that my anecdotal experience was not indicative of the energy being invested. Ideas such as a revitalization of the Flats, the upcoming construction of our new convention center, the building of the Medical Mart, etc. Some of these mega-projects have indeed successfully come together such as IdeaStream, the Euclid Transit line, Browns stadium, Gateway ... but I sense the community almost universally undervalues the accomplishments because they have not truly improved the quality of life for any but a few. (What does a new stadium mean if we perpetually drop the ball???)

For many months, I have sat quietly by, building a tight technical community known as Boundless Flight, Inc. using technicians from Mobile, AL, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, China, and even Romania. It has worked because we did not build an overdependence for either revenue nor talent on Cleveland. But lately, due to the national, regional, and local "doom and gloom" addiction, it has been tough to remain positive and emotionally energetic.

Enter Margaret Vandervort, a talent recruiter for the Cleveland Clinic.

Being innately irrationally optimistic at times, I am naturally attracted to energetic, positive people. Margaret started Twittering a few weeks ago about how great the Cleveland Clinic is and I hooked right in. With my daughter working as a nurse there, I am one of the Clinic's biggest fans. Margaret's Tweets are all about what a great place Cleveland is, how wonderful the theater district is, how marvelously diverse the restaurants are, how the Cleveland Clinic is one of the best places IN THE WORLD to work ... and she is right on. Margaret, for the past few weeks, has been a voice of consistent sunshine and warmth in a room of SO MANY gloomy streams of consciousness. Thank you, Margaret, for the encouragement you have brought. But yesterday reality once again shook me out of the lovely dream Margaret's energy and perspectives has rocked me into the past few weeks.

I was having an account review session with Bridget Ginley at the KoKo Bakery on Payne and east 37th. Bridget had been unable to get out that morning on account of the snowy weather and I had an interview with WCPN re: the governor's budget presentation (which, by the way, I was incredibly encouraged by!) so I swung over to her neighborhood to spend some time discussing the most recent activity from her accounts.

Sitting alone at the side of the bakery dining area was Brian. (No last name for fear of casting a shadow on his wife's situation - you will understand in a moment - but I have his card!) Brian was feverishly cutting away on his laptop and looked just "on the edge" enough to potentially be a resource for Boundless Flght, Inc. so ... I interjected Bridget and I into Brian's life and began a dialog. Brian is a Kent State grad (as is Bridget), lives in Painesville, and is generally very happy in Cleveland ... but no more than ten exchanges into the dialog, Brian (was he reading my mind??) informed me that he would soon be moving to Santa Clara, CA where he would be working at the corporate offices of his company AND that he would be taking his wife with him when he left. He told us his wife is of Chinese descent and works as a technician at the Cleveland Clinic. On one level, I immediately felt the loss of yet another excellent technician (why else would they invest to move him out to CA?) but on another level altogether I felt the COMBINED loss of not only Brian but his wife as well. What a ripple effect! As the technician achieves excellence, his value to the company he remotely works for increases to the point where they want him "at home" and along with him goes a second sharp, alert, energetic mind.

Ouch.

OUCH! Not only do Margaret and the other recruiters at the Clinic have to recruit people to fuel the organization's growth, but they also must recruit to backfill the ongoing regional talent depreciation. I am sure this is going on everywhere but as Cleveland is having one of its snowiest Januarys in recorded history, it is not hard to imagine Brian's wife WANTING to move to CA and very hard to imagine someone from Jacksonville, FL or Houston, TX, etc. WANTING to relocate to Cleveland.

Bottom line:
I am making it my DUTY to support, enable, and encourage the talent recruiters of Cleveland in 2009. When I find openings, I am going to distribute them to our network. When I hear of fatigue and discouragement in the ranks, I am going to pipe in an uplifting note. When I hear of frustration within the ranks, I will dedicate training on new tools. When I sense a lack of support INSIDE the recruiters' companies, I am going to contact their managers and supervisors and give them my encouragement to provide training, encouragement and support to those who daily make the pitch to "come here!" and who remind us how blessed we really are in Cleveland.

Bottom up, folks, bottom up. No matter what President Obama, our congress, Governor Strickland, and the leadership of Cleveland say, we will only pull out of this "slump" one pitch at a time. They may make the rules, set the ticket price, hire the umpires, and turn the lights on in the stadium ... but they aren't the ones running, throwing, hitting, and catching. We are.

Play ball,

Gary

If you don't have anything nice to say.....

2009-01-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

For the second time in recent memory, I have been assaulted without request by a stream of incredibly unprofessional verbiage in public by two professionals who should have known better. It the most recent occurrence, two attorneys were discussing the details of a case they are apparently working together, one using the first name of the client and the other the last name. Duh. Do they believe their involuntary audience at Starbucks can't put FN + LN together to get full name? I really, really had to fight the temptation to google the person and get the message to them that their case was being discussed in front of the whole world but I just can't bring myself to do that. Instead, I will relate the details of the first incident to the world (once again) and hopefully dissuade gracefully and elegantly.

The first incident happened a few months ago in a Panera on route 18, just north of Akron and east of route 77. I was returning from a CITe advisory board meeting at the University of Akron and stopped off for a quick bite with bandwidth. I had just gotten my sandwich and connection when my lunch was very crudely interrupted by two clowns who INSISTED on talking so loudly that everyone in the room could hear them.

They were two physicians and they had a most interesting topic. They were, in some way shape, or form, aligned against a third physician and were trapped in a sick cycle of "who can put the poor guy down with the most vicious language?" They used the third physician's full name, talked about his specialty, mentioned two or three times one of the hospitals he was associated with, and went on and on about the complaints that had been made against him, detailed his behaviors and medical practices that they were in disagreement with, and asked several rhetorical, subjective questions such as "How does his wife put up with him??"

Oblivious to their surroundings, they didn't even notice that the section of the room where they were lambasting physician "Jack" was clearing out rather rapidly. One mom took her daughter, gathered up their lunch items, and exited with a roll of the eyes to me as I was now one of only three or four tables that had stuck it out and weathered the storm.

This last departure motivated me to do something. I stood up, walked across the room, and positioned my self immediately next to the table where the two were sharing their opinions so raucously. It was a "high" table so even though they were seated, I was barely above either of them. It produced an opportunity for some GREAT eye contact. As I stood there, scanning first one and then the other physician, they kept talking!!!! I was no more than a foot away from either and for three or four exchanges, they were oblivious to me.

Suddenly the doc on my left broke rank, looked right at me and very harshly said

"What are you doing?".

As I had invaded their space, the irritation was understandable but I surprised him when I returned a simple smile, extended my hand and replied with, "I'm having lunch over at that table with the laptop hooked up. I and several of the other patrons have been enthralled that you would carry on such a conversation in a public place." He then became very aggressive and stood up and fired back "Just who are you?!?" to which I very calmly replied again "You don't know who I am. You have no idea who I might be representing and I advise you to be very, very certain of the information you are disseminating in public lest someone take offense and press charges."

The fellow who stood up to me suddenly went bland, backed into his chair, and sat down. No sooner had his butt hit the chair than his partner-in-debate had already gathered up his drink, his half-eaten sandwich, and was headed out the door, glancing ever so cautiously over his shoulder when outside to see if I was following. I remained standing for a moment next to the remaining physician just to make my point, turned and left. By the time I had traversed the seven or eight steps back to my table, he was also no where to be seen.

Whenever and wherever you are a enjoying public professional dialog, PLEASE be aware that the world is listening. There is NO SUCH THING as a private discourse over the internet. They may be able to encrypt President Obama's phone at the packet, device, and server levels, but I GUARANTEE you nor I enjoy such privacy.

Three simple rules I strongly encourage:

1. You know the old saying "If you don't have something good to say, don't say anything at all." This is the first and most powerful business lesson anyone can learn. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS position and pronounce your business advice in positive, non-aggressive tones and verbiage. NO matter how forcefully someone has just smacked you across the face, turn the other cheek. Remember the BLAST Fiennes got from the cute little brunette to start "The Constant Gardener"? It worked - he maintained the respect of his colleagues (who might otherwise have turned very critical for his lack luster fill-in performance) AND he got the chick! As it turns out, she may have been using the ruse to get next to enable her foray against the horribly evil drug company alliance but nonetheless, she fell in love with him and he became a better man for his composure.

2. Re-read, or have a trusted person read what you have written before you hit the enter key. I have two levels of "audit" before I post anything publically on our blog. They check my spelling, my grammar, my tone, and my content for blips. Thank goodness. Nikki D. taught me the value of this in a previous life, Craig K. reinforced it enormously, and I will be committed to the structure ever since. This has saved me and my company SO many headaches I have lost count.

3. Remember that when you are in public, you have no control over your audience. You do not know who is sitting "out there" so be very temperate, controlled, and private in your discussions. Even if you are on the cell phone and believe that no one will care about a one-sided conversation - BE CAREFUL. These are some of the most dangerous as the imaginations of what someone is saying on the other end of the line can be even more dangerous than the facts! You are not alone, you ARE being listened to, and you have no idea where your comments, your reports, or your spirit will land. If this saves even one of you from a career ending mistake, I count my investment to write this worthwhile. If it gives you the courage to confront someone the next time you see them making the mistake, likewise. Local, remote, and virtual integrity is the foundation for who we become to all our audiences. Stand tall at all times and in all domains.

Happy Birthday Gary, WK of Boundless Flight

2009-01-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Gary @ Boundless Flight !

2009-01-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

February Java User Group Meeting

Feb. 11, 2009, 5:30pm

3 Summit Park Drive

Lower Level Auditorium

Independence, OH 44131

Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) is a collection of technologies and specifications to create a platform that fits the requirements for mobile devices such as consumer products, embedded devices, and advanced mobile devices.

Initially introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007, the iPhone has quickly become one of the hottest mobile devices on the market. Randy Beiter will review the iPhone development environment and discuss what you need to begin with the iPhone SDK, including the development tools, technologies and processes necessary to create and deploy applications for iPhone.

Randy's Bio:

Randy Beiter is the Chief Software Engineer at iNomadics, Inc. A self-proclaimed “lifetime technologist,” Randy is the co-inventor of two patented software processes. In addition he is a Sun-certified Java developer who has served in multiple capacities throughout his 15 year career including technical expert, project leader and mentor. Prior to joining iNomadics, Randy served as a Senior Software Engineer for Oracle Corporation, BEA Systems, and Flashline, Inc. and as a Systems Analyst for Book Stacks Unlimited which is recognized as the first online retail establishment. Randy graduated from Cleveland State University with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science.

The agenda:

Eat, Drink, Network (5:30-6:00 PM)
Previous Meeting Recap, New Business (6:00-6:15PM)
Mobile Development (6:15PM)

>Mobile Landscape Overview
>Java ME
>iPhone

‘Human Flesh Search Engines’ Set Their Sights on Official Misbehavior

2009-01-09T16:05:00.000-05:00

I find it fascinating, as described in the following blog from the Wall Street Journal, the cultural differences of netizens (citizens of the internet) in China than what we are familiar with here in the US.

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2008/12/29/human-flesh-search-engines-set-their-sights-on-official-misbehavior/

How to Generate Low Customer Satisfaction Case Study : The Winking Lizard

2009-01-05T11:16:00.000-05:00

Gary's Winking Lizard Story:

Let me start this with a short note highlighting how much I and my company enjoy participating in the Winking Lizard Beer Tour every year. We enjoy it so much that in some years (2004 for sure), we have even finished two tours. We use the Beer Tour as a great reason to bring together friends and business acquaintances that otherwise would never have met and many of these relationships have lasted several years.

That being said, all is not well in Lizard Land.

On December 6 of this past year, I was heading back from a business trip to Columbus, OH. We had just attended a 6-hour demonstration of the

Rover Ink product (http://www.roverusa.com/) at the

Platform Lab facility (http://www.platformlab.org/)

and after a 2-hour drive, we were ready for a bite to eat. We pulled off 71 in Brunswick and returned to the Winking Lizard restaurant where we had opened our original card #5769. That evening, we asked our waitress to pull our current tour list, and we started to go down the list to identify delicious candidates to move us closer to our goal of tour completion. Just a few days before, I had been to the Lizard on Rockside Road with a couple of friends and we had knocked three or four beers off the tour that I KNEW we had polished of at least six or seven beers that were still on our list of beers to yet be consumed. I mentioned it to our server in Brunswick and was told that :

"this happens all the time, you should keep all your receipts so you can show which ones you have checked off the list".

I didn't think a great deal about this as I was sure we would have enough business activity between December 6th and the end of the year to make up for the discrepancy.

On Decemember 20th, I went to the Winking Lizard in Lakewood. There I had dinner with a friend and picked up a 6-pack of the outstanding brands to take to my daughter's place for our Christmas dinner on the 25th. With the words of the server ringing in my ears, I made sure I kept everything, the detailed list of what we consumed, the charge receipt, and even the place mat that we used to mark off the 9 beers we had purchased.

On December 27th, I returned to the Lakewood Lizard knock a few more off the tour. At this point, there should have been eight or so left on the "to do" list. To my surprise, there were still 18 listed. I encouraged my server that there must be some mistake because I had been in that same restaurant only a week before, had wonderful service, chatted with the server about our tour being "almost done", and had knocked several off the list. She got the manager who told me she couldn't do anything unless I had the receipts. No more. I got back in my car, drove back to my office to pick up the paperwork, and brought it all to the manager who then made sure the list was properly deducted from the tally. Had I not made that trip, I am sure to this day that the manager that evening would have thought I was just trying to get a few knocked off for free and that there really was no problem. On the side, while I was picking up the paperwork, one server told my friend that "this happens all the time" and apologized profusely for the inconvenience.

On December 31, I went back to Lakewood to finish the tour. On this trip, Jim Elliot, the manager, came out to meet me and extend his personal apologies for the prior incident. He was honestly sorry for the situation and offered the following explaination, "When the server closed out your bill, they must "release" your tour number of the credit never occurs."

I explained to Jim that I own a software development firm, that we have supported POS systems and database systems for many companies such as his and that it CAN'T be that tough a problem to be occurring so many times ... and please, W.L. management, don't blame the servers. It is your system that is broke when the problem occurs over and over and over.

I will go to the Tour Party at Browns Stadium and remain enthusiastic as we obtain our 2009 tour card. I won't let my other 12 jackets be orphaned from their '09 brother by my frustrations. But I hate to think how many people have decided not to pursue the tour due to their similar frustrations and I hate even more to think how the morale of servers have been dinged by such a poorly designed system. Any system that pits a restaurant's servers against their MOST LOYAL customers

Get on it, Lizard managers, we look forward to much better from you in 2009.

Boundless Flight Night Out : Grafton Street Pub, Lakewood @ 8pm

2008-12-29T10:34:00.000-05:00

Football + Boundless Flight = Tonight!!!

Welcome Back from the Holidays!

We here at Boundless Flight hope your
holiday fun is in FULL SWING !!!

Please continue the fun with us

!! TONIGHT !!

FOOTBALL - BEER - CHILI @

THE GRAFTON STREET PUB
13603 Madison Ave
Lakewood, OH‎ 44107
(216) 228-5777

-----------------------

Boundless Flight is hosting a
night of fun & football at the local
Grafton Street Pub in Lakewood, Ohio
this evening for the Northwestern - MO game
Please feel free to join us and
we will feed you with our famous homemade chili.
We will be hanging out with several fellow
Northwestern/Kellogg Alumni and
would love to have you & yours as well!

We look forward to seeing you
TONIGHT!
‎

From the Desk of the White Knight : Gary Baney on Hitachi

2008-12-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

From the Desk of Boundless Flight :

Gary Baney ~>

-----------------------------------------------

Please spend a minute with this !

http://www.byteandswitch.com/document.asp?doc_id=168796&f_src=byteweekly

What a lot of people don't realize is that Hitachi has been producing the world's best RAM-based storage devices in the world for more than a decade for the main framers.

Applications of this technology include very large logistics companies that have been using huge banks of RAM to hold databases of shipping details to provide "instant" look-up for parcel location queries. I have seen demonstrations where "one in a 100 billion" was located in less than a "blink of an eye" thanks to these devices.

NO disk seek time - just straight electron flow and with the proprietary database I was researching, the parcel keys were "immediately" converted to a raw disk address with a very simple hybrid ISAM/VSAM structure. Hit the enter key, and your data is there. FANTASTIC for customer support systems.

This brings a LOT of new blood into Intel - a very smart move as Hitachi KNOWS THIS WORLD and will kick butt. This partnership is on top of this world and will remain there for some time.

http://www.hitachi.com/

BLOG 2 # -

2008-11-28T09:17:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite activies in all of life is to catch a relaxing meal with one of my former students from either my days in Chicago (Judson University or Keller Graduate School of Management) or my tenure at Case where I taught at Weatherhead from '97 until '04. After the lackluster performance offered up by the Browns on Sunday, I was READY for a refreshing update.

(BTW, Cleveland, forget Cower. Bring in Ditka and surround him with Wilbur Marshall and Otis Taylor to teach the linebackers how to put the fear of Godin the opposing offense, Dave Duerson and Gary Fencik to teach our defensive backfield how to tackle, Richard Dent to teach our pathetic defensive line howto rush a quarterback, "The Fridge" to show 'em how to win at ALL cost - even if you have to throw your own man into the endzone!!!!, and let Jim McMahon start mentoring Brady RIGHT NOW - before it is too late! Wanna see a REAL team play?? - go rent the tape of the 44-0 SMASHING the Chicago Bears put onthe Dallas Cowboys on November 17, 1985. 'nuff said.) LINK HERE >

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/csac-bt-851117bearscowboysgamer,0,1687112.story

The student who called me last week and requested lunch had just gone through the death of her husband's father. I know them both and appreciate each of them for their very unique energies and intellects. More on this sometime but not today.

Today I want to relate my student's monologue on the current state of affairs in America.
She made three points to me at lunch.
The integrity and simplicity of her logic has weighed on me all day.

I can't shake it - and I don't want to shake it.

This is a burden every American needs to feel.

Point #1 - My student came to America around 20 years ago. When she and her husband came here, they were coming to the NEW WORLD! It was a land of opportunity, freedom, limitless potential, and stood in STARK CONTRAST to the barriers, limitations, suppression, and mediocrity of her native China. They didn't want t o go to Germany nor England nor Canada nor Brazil, they wanted to come to AMERICA! When they arrived, they realized their dream, and they have steadily and continually lived it with their children and parents year in and year out. She now believes the America they fought so hard to come to is gone. The upcoming socialistic/Marxist (her words, not mine) era has made us "just another country". We are no longer distinct and probably never will be again. She told me that the Chinese people are laughing at us because we claimed for so long that communism was "evil" and now we "are it". The Chinese people now rightfully believe that their economy much more assertively, efficiently,and effectively practices economic competition than America's. Ouch.

Point #2 - American will now sacrifice government efficiency to political convenience. As she put it, "Under capitalism, you build a bridge because agroup of people need to get from point A to point B. Under socialism, you build a bridge because you need 100 jobs."She contends that as power and management directive is concentrated into the federal government, there will be a huge increase in cronyism, favoritism, prejudice against politically unpopular groups, and enormous waste in the name of keeping the work force active. As a short, white, bald, Vietnam era veteran without any debilitating wounds, I already know what this is like - but I am getting ready for it to get a lot worse. BTW, I was actually told to my face in a meeting at one of the top banks in Cleveland that I was "too white and the wrong gender to ever do business at that bank". Can you IMAGINE the rampage that would be created if the gender and color of that statement was flipped around??? I went to a local labor attorney and he told me "they can do business with who ever they want". We moved on and did almost $2M the next year pulling off a major application implementation at the National Bank of Canada. They do not suffer from such blind rejection of experience, talent, and technical excellence. (;>)Double ouch.

Point #3 - and I'm warning you, this one really hurt. You might offer up any number of reasons why America has declined to the mediocrity which China is fighting its way out of with every breath they can take. My student put it this way: American has declined into socialism because everyone sat around and waited for someone else to do something.

Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Bottom line: I have my new year's resolution for 2009 firmly entrenched in my being: I will do whatever I can to make a difference in Cleveland, Ohio, and America. Whenever someone complains about our 'lot in life' because we are in Clevelandor Ohio or America, I am going to challenge with - 'what are YOU doing about it?'. Are you supporting our local vendors? Are you voicing your opinions inthe media? Are you letting our leaders know you are not happy and that things need to change ... or are you just belly aching to spread pain to all within immediate earshot? I am going to start speaking up when my whiteness or my gender makes me a second class citizen and my company a stepped-over vendor. It is time to stand up, raise my voice, and reject unfair treatment in the name of "equal"opportunity. It is time to loudly and publically complain when government policies are promoting gross inefficiencies ... and if this new federal regime is not taking us in a direction that I perceive to be in the best interest of my children, you BET they will hear me in Washington and Columbus. I am not going down without a fight. Cribbs, 'Fridge, Wilson, I'm rightbeside you! Let's stand against an NFL leadership turning the game into a"Dance of Barely Distinguishable Gentle Men" and let's stop our collectivenational frustration from turning America into a

"Union of Barely Actualized States".

FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Baney

Invest in Companies CLose to Home for the Holidays!

2008-11-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

metalwork by Don Drumm - Artist from Akron

The Times ...
they are a changin'!

=============================================

It is a most interesting exercise to sit back and remember the unravelling of the mostly fake economy that was built up by the Vietnam war as a parallel to what is going on now. I was in Chicago in the construction trades during most of that dip and used the decline to justify taking a few programming classes at Elgin Community College which then led to a tenure at Judson University and then to Kellogg. The rest is a whirlwind. Now that I am in Cleveland with my own company, I am pondering how to respond to this current mess that is doing its damnest to swallow us all with either discouragement, financial ruin, or downright depression. Being a natural-bornfighter with nary a hint of downside thinking, I say FIGHT! and I have figured out how I and my little company are going to fight back over the next few weeks. I am tired of investing in very large corporations over which I have no real control. Look what Ford has done with our hard-earned $$$. I don't know a single person on the senior executive management team of Ford (unless you include their pseudo-CTO/top software architect in that group - but that is a stretch) and I certainly don't personally know anyone sitting on their board. When they started sliding, I had no voice. They had my $$$, but I had no voice. No more. Boundless Flight, Inc. is going to start supporting and investing in companies that WE KNOW! We are going to buy the stock of companies we have a chance to really influence; if I know their CEO, CIO, or CTO, we have a chance. When given the chance, we are going to buy products from the same companies. NO MORE buying merely the "best value" product when that repeated activity by th emillions(?) of us in N.E. Ohio puts "our own" at jeapordy.

Some examples of things we will do over the next few weeks:

1. We will only buy American Greetings/Carleton holiday cards. If we don't see one of these brands on a card, it isn't going to be purchased. If we don't find what we want on those shelves, I'll be giving my IT compatriot Doug Rommel, one of their marketing gurus, Art Bergstresser, or my former student Kyle Ludwick a call.

2. One of the corporate gifts we will be giving will be Malley's giftbaskets. Adele, if we don't find what we want, I will be giving you a call. Remember me, I used to be a friend of Dianne Walsh ... 'nuff said. (;>)

3. For my friends with children, I will be buying STEP2 products. STEP2, by the way, enormously supported the efforts of our own Nivi Engineer's Summer Santa project by donating TRUCK LOADS of toys the children in Iowa during the summer flood disaster.

4. Two of my friends are doing remodeling. Paint? ... Sherwin-Williams. Tom, if my friends give me push back, I'm giving YOU a call.

5. Adult gifts for those around me who might (or might not!) appreciate such? I am told Ambiance has quite a selection. Again, if I can't find a reasonable stock of tasteful and reasonable items, I'm calling Jennifer Downeyto let her know.

6. One of our favorite corporate gifts is to send our customers packages of high-quality coffee with the tag line "Call Boundless Flight for GREAT Java!". Corny, I know .. but I actually had a fellow board memeber of the CITe Board at Akron U. tell me he thought it was really a nice idea. Our favorite local coffee? PHOENIX !! We love their roasting, their bean selection, and their staff. We even like Sarah Wilson-Jones .. but will not hesitate to hold her accountable if the goods aren't up to our expectations.

7. I know lots of folks in the Smucker's senior IT team and will specifically select their products from here on out .. but also let them know if I get any negative reviews.

8. Know any teenage girls who need a something special under the tree?? Bonnie Bell - you can't go wrong. As a father of three daughters, they LOVED their lip smacking products and would be really upset if they couldn't find them. We've been to the top of the marketing group at Bonnie Bell; no problem walking right over there and making a point if needed.

9. Pat Catan's has always been one of the area's class acts. I will be going there for all our decoration and crafty goodies this year. You can still find several of the Catan family directly involved in the business. Even going back to Pops, I could always get his ear with recommendations if I could keep up with him bringing in carts from the parking lot!

10. Holiday food preparation? It will be Heinen's for us this year. We have had a Boundless Flight check cashing card from Heinen's almost sinceday #1 - we just haven't used it enough. Jeff, if anything doesn't look quite right, I'm coming straight to you.

11. Brewski's ... we are going with Great Lake Brewery . My son, Ben,is the "President of the Great Lakes Brewery Club" at Illinois State University. He graduates from there this December and when he leaves, that whole school is going into depression because there won't be any more Papa Baney Dortmunder beer trains coming in from Cleveland. Papa Baney will also be going through withdrawal ... there are some cute, cute, CUTE girls at that school that I will lose contact with ... . Anyway ... Mark Hunger, if the quality EVER starts slipping, we will let you know right away!!

12. Candles? LOTS of people have never heard of AI Root down in Medina. It is one of the most memorable browsing experiences you will ever have as the place ALWAYS smells perfectly heavenly!

13. Having been born in Walla Walla, WA, I have always supported the outstanding wines of the Columbia Valley. This year, though, we will be focusing on our OHIO vinyards . If the taste isn't quite competitive with a CA syrah or WA merlots, I am going to bite my tongue and remind myself that my dollar only went 60 miles away and not 3,000.

14. Last but not least, we will be buying lots of gifts this year from the artist community in Cleveland. This has *nothing* to do with our recent hiring of Bridget Ginley! (;>) The Don Drumm Gallery is a GREAT collection of local artwork. River Arts is another and maybe the best is the Museum of Contemporary Art . As these times get tougher and tougher, let's do our best to see that our local creatives stay well fed!I think you get the idea.

=================================================

1. BUY LOCAL - support the people around us and enable local prosperity.

2. GET TO KNOW YOUR LOCAL COMPANY'S MANAGEMENT TEAMS - keep them accountable. Excellence will draw in more business and foster loyalty. Mediocrity willjust extend the status quo.

3. INVEST IN LOCAL COMPANIES - we are going to start really focusing on this. It is one of the few ways remaining for us to have an effective, direct voicein our own destiny.

=================================================

I am confident the government will be taking a larger and larger portion ofour profits AND our income going forward. As of January, 2009, the U.S. will instantly become more focused on wealth redistribution and socialisticbehavior than China. You think I am kidding???? They are CELEBRATING overthere!! If we continue in the direction we are going, i.e., harboringenormous and gross economic in efficiences with government-sponsored bandaidsthat IGNORE the consequences of the social mediocrity it will bring, theChinese are going to be buying our land, our companies, and financing our children's debt to an even far greater level than they have ours!One of my duties this next month is to analyze and ponder our company'srelationship with China, India, and Vietnam. We have three offices in China,we are in dialog with Vietnam (they need trainers to evolve their technical base quickly), and I am pulled at weekly to initiate dialog with Indiancompanies. One of Boundless Flight's original principals, Xiaodong Yang, hasdone an OUTSTANDING job of recruiting some of the better .NET developers Ihave yet to see. It is a tough call - I am going to seek input from ouradvisory board regarding the decision. We'll keep you up to date on all decisions. FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!,