Radical Sponsors CouchConf NYC 2011

Like many other companies, Radical benefits enormously from open source communities and the work that they do and we're always excited when we have a chance to give back to these efforts. We're thrilled to be returning the favour next month as an official sponsor of CouchConf in New York City on October 24th, 2011.

CouchConf NYC is a part of Couchbase's world tour of conferences that dig into cool Couchbase & CouchDB technology, where it's headed and a chance to meet, share and learn from lots of cool people who are using Couchbase to power their work and business.

I'll be there on October 24th in NYC and I'm eager to hear how you're applying Couchbase & CouchDB to solve real-world problems!

Permalink, No comments

Group Complete Wins Couchbase Developer Award!

Last week I learned that Group Complete had been nominated as a finalist in the Couchbase Developer Awards to be announced at the inaugural Couchbase conference (CouchConf) being held in San Francisco on July 29, 2011.

A little context is probably important: Couchbase is the maker of the database technology that Group Complete uses to do Really Cool Things™. The nomination and recognition was cool enough but what followed was even better.

I'm happy to report that Group Complete was announced the winner of the "Best In Show" award earlier today, live from the podium during the closing session. Alas, I wasn't present to receive the award but I'm told that it's been strapped to the back of an armadillo who's been given strict instructions to carry it to me. Thanks Couchbase — it's an honour!

Apologies for the shameless plug. Thanks so much for your support of Radical Dynamic. I think there are some good things on the horizon for Radical Dynamic and Group Complete and I'm happy to share them with you.

You can read our official announcement on Group Complete's blog.

Permalink, No comments

Couchbase publishes case study on Group Complete!

The document-oriented database CouchDB is a big part of Group Complete and one of the key technologies that helps us make collaborative data collection possible! Couchbase, the makers of CouchDB, have recently published a case study on Group Complete that investigates how we're using CouchDB and the benefits that we've realized by making it central to our technology strategy.

We're CouchDB powered and proud of it. Check out the case study on the web http://www.couchbase.com/case-studies/groupcomplete or as a PDF.

Permalink, No comments

Group Complete Technology Preview Released!

We're very proud to announce the release of our Group Complete technology preview! This is a chance for us to share with you some of the exciting things that we have been working on before they're ready for general use. It's also an opportunity for you to partner with us as we work towards an official release.

Starting today, the Group Inform Technology Preview is available for Android 2.2 with support for Android 2.1 and 2.3 on the way. If you're interested in mobile data collection this is the perfect time to give Group Inform a whirl and let us know what you think.

Our Simple Sharing features make Group Complete is one of the very few mobile data collection solutions that enables mobile workers to build interactive forms on-the-go, share collected data in real-time and take entire data sets offline for further use. We're working to provide you with the very best collaborative data collection experience possible!

Check out the Group Complete blog and these simple instructions to get started now!

Permalink, No comments

Group Complete Website Launched!

A few days ago we launched the website for our mobile data collection solution, Group Complete. We wanted you to be able to get a sneak peak at what's coming in our technology preview on March 31st, 2011.

What makes Group Complete so important to the world of mobile data collection? With so many different solutions to choose from we'd like to take a moment and explain what makes Group Complete the smart choice.

1. We're aiming to provide you with a truly mobile data collection experience. From account management to form creation to data entry & export we are working to ensure that you can perform all of the major functions of data collection from the convenience of your smartphone. Need to take your data set with you while offline? We make this possible by employing powerful synchronization technology that will keep you working when others can't.
2. Collaborative Data Collection. With Group Complete you can transparently and seamlessly share collected data between mobile team members and data consumers in real-time. This allows team members to collaborate on data entry and review collected data, regardless of their locations.
3. Group Complete is based on the Open Data Kit (ODK) project and uses XForms to store form definitions & collected data. Compatibility with ODK and our use of XForms ensures that you can integrate Group Complete into any ODK or XForms-based workflow.

Looking for more? Checkout the Group Complete website.

Permalink, No comments

Group Complete Makes Mobile Data Collection Easy

We are very happy to announce that our Group Complete™ family of products is entering the final phase of testing and will be released in March 2011 beginning with Group Inform™. Inform is an app for Android smartphones that enables people to create, edit and fill out powerful electronic forms. The forms and data may be shared with other users to take advantage of real-time collaborative data collection.

Inform is ideal for inventory, surveys, reports or any other undertaking where information would typically be captured on a paper form. It is suitable for small and mid-sized organizations of up to several hundred persons and we are continually working to expand its capabilities.

We believe in the power of open source technology. Group Inform™ is based on Open Data Kit, the XForms standard and CouchDB. We're looking forward to putting this capable software to work for you.

Stay tuned for more news of this exciting release!

Permalink, No comments

Don't Be Evil vs. Doing What's Right

Google's informal motto "Don't be Evil" has received a lot of attention over the past couple of years from a variety of camps. Critics and commentators on this topic have ranged from objective to outright anti-Google or anti-big business. It isn't my intention to add to the discussion about whether Google is staying true to their advertised intentions. Enough words have been spent on that issue.

Instead, I want to write about the difference between doing good things (or perhaps not doing bad things) and doing what's right. Businesses are ever conscious of their public image and (most) want to be seen to be doing some good with the resources that they have, or at the very least not doing things that are obviously undesirable. Those in the corporate sector have gone so far as to hire specialists in psychology and other human oriented sciences to better their presentations. I can hardly blame them: looking good in the eyes of ones peers is a desire honed since the sandbox and it is magnified when one is the subject of those who ultimately shape the course of your existence (consumers and concerned citizens, in this case).

Before I go any further I would like to iron out what I mean by doing what's right. In the light of modern relativism the concepts of right and wrong or good and bad are sometimes indistinguishable. It is my belief that good things are made necessarily obvious when we recognize that everyone shares the same basic humanity. In The Merchant of Venice the character Shylock eloquently identifies these commonalities during what is perhaps his most famous speech.

"Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? ..." (Act III, scene I)

In the light of these shared characteristics it is clear to us that we can meet each other on the same basic plane, below the differing philosophical, cultural and linguistic differences. It is on this shared level that we can understand that the primal "good" is equally good to all people and thus obvious in its own nature. Treating employees, customers and the general public with respect, dignity and concern for their well-being are good guidelines for any company interested in starting off on the right foot. The so-called Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would expect them to do to you is not far from the mark either.

Alas even primal good cannot exist in a vacuum. The yin yang have popularized the notion of complementary opposites in Western culture (despite Taoist philosophy generally discounting good/bad distinctions as superficial labels) and I think it is a useful depiction of our apathy towards the old adage "that the good comes with the bad." When good actions such as environmental initiatives are taken by companies we either expect them to be undertaken to mask the bad that is happening behind the scenes or as a precursor to something detrimental that will necessarily follow. We are after all self-made critics of ethical behaviour. Prominent failures and the subsequent fallout of infallible giants and brands such as Enron, GAP Inc. and Union Carbide India Limited have done nothing to convince us that corporations are capable of acting in the best interests of the common good.

If we evaluate the actions of such companies it becomes apparent that simply doing good things (or striving to avoid bad things) isn't enough. Although the creation of wealth, employment and donations to worthwhile causes are commendable achievements in their own right these things can and often do go wrong and become warped unless the decisions made by the governing corporate body are made with the intent to do what is right. It has been said that it is impossible for a person to have two masters and nowhere else can this be seen as clearly as in the conduct of corporations in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Instead of looking at companies as mere vehicles of wealth and good actions by these companies as inconsequential side effects we should expect companies to do what is right by default and treat wealth and other well intentioned initiatives as secondary byproducts.

At Radical Dynamic we expect these things from ourselves and believe that it's time to expect them from others. We encourage you to make a habit of doing the right thing.

Permalink, No comments