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23 October 2008
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Political Candidates: Put your money where your mouth is.
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Recently I read a headline regarding the amount of money that a certain politician has raised for their campaign. The amount was staggering.
Wouldn't it be an incredible statement if either candidate/party would reduce the amount they spend on their campaign (e.g. TV advertising) and instead donate a substantial portion towards an issue that they were passionate about? Wouldn't that speak more than words?
I am not an expert on what candidates can or cannot do with raised funds. With that being said, let the candidates put their money where their mouths are.
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10:47 PM -
Rick Ross -
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19 September 2008
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New Chapter
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The time has come to turn another page in my life and start a new chapter. Starting next week, I’ll be a Sales Engineer for an IT Consulting Company, called Xede (pronounced Exceed). I’m really excited to return back to my consulting roots and help companies solve their toughest business challenges.
In this new role, I will be helping the sales team craft proposals and offers to companies. In addition, I will be helping companies directly by providing IT consulting services. If you would like to engage with me or Xede, feel free to contact me via email at xede at rick-ross.com.
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05:56 PM -
Rick Ross -
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Saying Goodbye
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Almost three years ago, I began a new adventure with a startup company called Atomynet. These past years have gone by in a blur, starting with a vague idea and turning into a tangible product. It was a great learning experience for me and I had the opportunity to work with a number of very talented individuals here in the US as well as in Israel. In total, I was able to visit Israel eight times and have taken many incredible pictures.
Working at a startup has been an exciting, challenging and stressful experience. Sometimes you get to experience all three emotions in the same day! Emotions aside, I am glad I took the leap almost three years ago.
Along the way, I have learned many things. Here are a few that I’d like to share:
- Make sure you meet the entire team. Chemistry and personalities are huge in a startup.
- Change is the name of the game. You probably won’t get it right the first time.
- Listen to your customers.
So the time has come to close this chapter and start a new one. I wish the best to everyone at Atomynet.
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05:51 PM -
Rick Ross -
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21 July 2006
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Clarissa's book is available on Amazon
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If you're interested in purchasing Clarissa's book, you can do so through this link.
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11:16 AM -
Rick Ross -
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10 July 2006
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Another published author in the house!
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If you’re looking for technical content, feel free to skip this post 
My lovely wife Clarissa has just published her first book! Her book is titled The Power of the Truth. I realize that the vast majority of those who frequent this site are not her target audience, but I just couldn’t help myself.
Clarissa has been writing poems, short stories, and full length books for some time, but never really let anyone but her family and close friends read her material. Over the years I have been encouraging her to publish her books. So now there are two published authors in our house!
Clarissa decided to go the self-published route with Lulu which gave her the flexibility and the creativity to control the entire process. One of the options she had was to use a pre-designed book cover or to upload a custom book cover. Over the course of a couple of evenings, we designed the book cover.
The book has one more step to go through before it’s available at Amazon or bookstores for special orders. Once it’s available, I’ll post the appropriate link.
Congratulations Clarissa!
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09:55 PM -
Rick Ross -
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14 January 2006
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Oh Where, Oh Where is Rick?
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Does time fly or what? I can't believe it has been over a year since my last post! Many things have changed in the fifteen months since I've last posted an entry. This post will briefly highlight these changes and a few things that I've learned along the way.
Most of the development I've done since September 2004 was using Java based technologies. I had the opportunity to work with JSPs, Servlets, WebLogic Workshop, Web Services, Struts, Tiles, Hibernate, Spring, Axis, and WebSphere. Whew. So many cool technologies to work with in the Java space. What I learned during this period of time is a couple of things.
First, doing Java struts development by hand is insane. It takes way too long to hook up all of the pieces of the puzzle. Granted it is good to know how all of the pieces work together, but it is very tedious and prone to errors. Using WebLogic Workshop definitely hid all of these pieces, but the environment was slooowwww and I had frequent crashes. I've heard that WebLogic Workshop works best with 2GB of memory, I just wish someone told me that while I was still using it!
Second, Spring rocks! I love the way I can use an XML file to change configuration parameters, set properties, and even specify what classes to use. It's an incredible tool and I haven't even begun to completely understand everything that it provides.
Third, Eclipse is the best CVS tool I have ever used. Forget WinCVS, or Tortise CVS. The CVS support in Eclipse is incredible. Highly recommended.
More recently I've been working with .NET technologies. I had the opportunity to work with .NET Compact Framework, Encryption, ASP.NET, Web Services and WinForms. If you're writing Compact Framework applications and haven't seen Smart Device Framework, check it out. It adds a ton of functionality that has been left out of the compact framework. If you are going to be writing any code that needs to work on the compact framework and the desktop framework, write the code first for the compact framework. It is much easier to go from the compact framework to the desktop framework then the other way around.
Another thing I learned is that developing web services and web sites with ASP.NET is incredible. Microsoft has really outdone themselves this time. For pure developer productivity on web-based applications, ASP.NET blows struts development out of the water. Similarly, developing web services with the .NET Framework kicks Axis' butt all day long. Anytime I start talking to hard core Java developers about ASP.NET web development, the first thing I hear is something along the lines of “Well ASP.NET doesn't scale”. Well I bet that there are some struts applications that don't scale very well either. The point I want to make is that scalability is more of a design issue, not a framework issue. When you look at development from a business perspective, wouldn't you rather have an application deployed quicker and cost less? Granted, there might be additional costs such as licensing, but at the end of the day, technology is to help the business achieve its goals.
Finally, after over seven years with Pillar Technology Group, I decided it was time to move on. I interviewed with several companies during my search, and I am now architecting and leading a global team of developers at a startup called Atomynet, Inc.. I can't say what I'm currently working on, as we are still in “stealth mode”. But suffice it to say that I am excited to be working on a tangible product that has the potential to change the world. Exciting times are ahead, including traveling “over the pond”
So that's what I've been doing and where I am at. I'm going to do my best to post to my blog more frequently than once every fifteen months or so. 
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12:52 PM -
Rick Ross -
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04 September 2004
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More gmail invites!
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I've got three more gmail invites to give out. If you want a gmail account, send me an e-mail (gmail at rick dash ross dot com). The first three people win.
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08:56 PM -
Rick Ross -
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31 August 2004
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Gmail invite anyone?
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I've got three gmail invites to give out. If you want a gmail account, send me an e-mail (gmail at rick dash ross dot com). The first three people win.
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08:36 PM -
Rick Ross -
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13 August 2004
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BorCon 2004 Update
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For those of you who were looking forward to my BorCon 2004 presentations, I am sorry to inform you that I will not be going to BorCon this year. I will definitely miss all of the friends that I have made over the years.
Fortunately, my co-worker and associate Francis Solomon has volunteered to go in my stead even with the short notice. Thanks Francis! Francis has much more real-world development experience in the .NET framework than I have had. I have given him all of my materials to make the transition that much easier. So make sure you stop by his sessions and learn all about Reflection and Threading in the Microsoft .NET Framework.
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09:48 PM -
Rick Ross -
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15 July 2004
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Freedom Followup
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Wow! I would have never guessed that my blog entry on Freedom would have hit so many nerves. Since there are many comments, I will clarify a few things.
I did not mention a specific company at all, and I still will keep that anonymous. I don't think that naming names will do any good. Neither will revealing the new policy. The bottom line is that these references are vague is because they can (and sometimes do) apply to many other companies. If you think this applies to the company that you work for, then perhaps you should forward this entry on to your senior management. Hopefully this will open some eyes. (And don't just take my word for it. Have them read Good to Great by Jim Collins.)
For those that know where I have been consulting for a while now, you know that on Friday July 9th 2004, the company informed my employer that my services were no longer needed. I was scheduled to leave the company at the end of August, but management decided that they no longer wanted me around. The reason I was told was due to changes with the project that I was working on. I was able to check in my latest changes, pack my personal belongings and leave.
Many rumors have been flying about what was the real reason for the abrupt termination of my services. Speculation has it that it was due to either the Freedom blog entry, or the comments others left on my website. Regardless, I hold no hard feelings against the company, as it was their right to terminate my services whenever they felt like it and for whatever reason.
If the speculation is accurate, I wish the company would have had the guts to tell me the real reason for terminating my services. Furthermore, the person who ultimately made this decision should have been the one to tell me and my employer.
As a side note, the timing could not have been better for my employer. Within an hour of leaving the company, I had a new assignment already lined up.
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04:08 PM -
Rick Ross -
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04 July 2004
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Freedom
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Today marks the 228th birthday of the United States of America. I have been truly blessed to live in the greatest nation in the world. The freedom that we have been given has allowed this country to prosper beyond compare.
Freedom gives individuals the right to start a business and make it succeed or fail. It is the right to speak or write concepts whether others agree with them or not. The founding fathers paved the way to allow the most important freedom, freedom of religious expression.
Yet, why is it, that companies have a tendency to lay down various policies that take freedom away from their employees? Don't take this the wrong way. I am not opposed to policies, per se, but when there is a policy for everything, warning bells should go off.
Recently I learned of a company that has enacted certain policies that take away rights of those that work there. In fact, I would say that instead of giving their employees freedom, they are running the company like a dictatorship. This is exact opposite of how a company should be run, because it screams “I don't trust my employees”.
Instead of building a team, where everyone is working towards a common goal, the company is erecting walls. It is becoming a place with an “us” verses “them” mentality. How can a company achieve its goals with all of the internal fighting going on? The bottom line is that it cannot.
Companies that trust their employees are not worried about setting policies for everything. Instead, they empower their employees. They grant them freedom.
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08:38 PM -
Rick Ross -
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26 May 2004
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More information about Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide
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As promised, I have posted a page dedicated to Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide, which is located here. I've posted a summary of the book and the Table of Contents.
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09:56 PM -
Rick Ross -
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17 May 2004
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Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide Arrived
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I had a nice surprise waiting for me when I got home from work today. I received my copies of Xavier Pacheco's Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide! Here's a copy of the front cover.
If you haven't received your copy yet, I would imagine that the retailers are starting to receive shipments from the publisher, so any preorders should be shipping soon. I'll post more about the book at the end of this month, after I have turned in my 1st draft papers for BorCon 2004.
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07:02 PM -
Rick Ross -
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13 May 2004
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Word 2003 saving to HTML
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In the process of converting my resume to HTML (using Word 2003), I ran into a few snags. When I looked at the HTML version locally with Internet Explorer and Firefox, my resume looked exactly how I would have expected it to. So I uploaded the HTML version to my website and double checked it again within both browsers. Much to my surprise, I saw lots of question marks in both browsers. Wierd. So I uploaded my resume to my old Angelfire account, and looked at it again. This time it worked!
I decided to look at the contents of the html file, so I loaded the html into XVI32 (a very nice hex editor written in Delphi) and noticed some extended characters. So I used XVI32 to search/replace the following extended charcters into the appropriate characters.- Hex A0 (dec 160) ==> (non-breaking space)
- Hex 96 (dec 150) ==> - (hyphen)
- Hex 92 (dec 148) ==> ' (apostrophe)
Once I these extended characters where replaced, I uploaded the file and tested again. Woo hoo! It worked.
I haven't had a chance to research this extended character/Apache issue fully, so if anyone has any insight, please leave a comment or e-mail me.
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09:34 PM -
Rick Ross -
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My resume is now online
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I have posted my resume online. You can read the various versions of it here.
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09:05 PM -
Rick Ross -
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