Kalakala close to the end Max Effgen, January 23, 2012June 14, 2023 The Kalakala Ferry leaves Seattle, March 2004 A piece of Seattle history is likely to finally meet its end in what has been a long and sad decline. The Kalakala, a beautiful art deco ferry, served the Seattle to Bremerton route for decades. After being rescued from live as a…
Lessons from Kodak Max Effgen, January 15, 2012June 14, 2023 This is a Kodak Brownie No 2A, Model B that my great-grandmother purchased sometime around 1920. It still works. I was able to find some 116 film for it a few years ago and took this timeless picture of the Space Needle. Much has already been written about the demise…
A tale of two customer experiences Max Effgen, January 7, 2012June 14, 2023 In the past 24 hours, I have had two diametrically opposed customer experiences. One was delightful, the other made me cancel my account. I used to bank with a large national bank. When the wife (Disclosure: the wife works for Amazon but does not read my blog) and I married,…
Merry Christmas Max Effgen, December 24, 2011 You shall hold cherished places in our Christmas hearts, an by our Christmas fires; and in the season of immortal hope, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! ~ Dickens Paraphrased from “What Christmas is as We Grow Older”
Infamy Max Effgen, December 7, 2011December 2, 2013 The United States entered the Second World War seventy years ago today. Both my grandfathers served in the Pacific. The courage and sacrifice of the nation as a whole at that time was unparalleled. Sadly, it has never been seen since. You will be humbled and likely cry like I…
Congratulations to the late Ron Santo Max Effgen, December 5, 2011December 2, 2013 Ron Santo was finally elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame today. It should have happened a long time ago. Growing up in Chicago, Santo’s legacy loomed large over the very unremarkable Chicago Cubs teams of the late ’70’s. Now with Ernie Banks and Billy Williams, he will be…
The next big thing: Wireless Body Area Networks Max Effgen, November 28, 2011 Since June I have been working with some very exciting technology that will change the way we sense the world. It is an ultra-low power radio circuit developed at the University of Washington’s Wireless Sensing Lab. My work has focused on finding commercial applications and partners for the technology. One…
Google Apps and Windows Live Max Effgen, November 27, 2011 While digging through some older posts, I came across the “Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook” release announcement from 18 months ago. Google recently released version 2.5 of the product just over 1 week ago. An open question was how Microsoft would respond. Windows Live was the response. The functionality…
The inevitable gCRM Max Effgen, November 18, 2011 Will Google enter the enterprise applications market? It is a matter of time. The recent GM announcement signal that the company is almost there. For many enterprises, the first business process to be put into place is CRM. Google will enter the enterprise application space in CRM to better leverage…
Veterans Day Max Effgen, November 11, 2011December 2, 2013 To all the Veterans and active duty military, thank you for your service to our great country. I would especially like to thank my father. He received his 1LT bars in 1970. It is one of the only photos of him in uniform where his head is not shaved.