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I really enjoyed delivering my presentation on “Windows Mobile Widgets 101” this past Wednesday at the Boston/New England Windows Mobile User/Developer Group. The goal was to show just how simple it was to get started with widget development. With the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Toolkit now available for download, now is as good a time as ever to get ahead of the game.

I have put my presentation deck (as PDF) and samples together into a single ZIP file for download over at BostonPocketPC.com. Enjoy!

Sorry for the late notice, all. I honestly thought that we were not meeting until NEXT week. Way too hectic a month thus far… ;-)

Our next Windows Mobile User/Developer Group meeting will be TOMORROW (June 17th) starting at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft offices in Waltham, MA (201 Jones Road, 6th Floor).

Among our topics this month -

“Windows Mobile 6.5 Overview” – With the release of the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Toolkit, developers and users are getting their first good looks at the latest Windows Mobile OS offering. In this presentation, you will see some of the highlights for both Professional and Standard Edition devices.

“Introduction To Widgets” – With the upcoming release of Windows Mobile 6.5 comes the unveiling of a new application type for Windows Mobile – the widget. In this presentation, you will receive an “Anatomy of a Widget”, how you can create them, what they can do and how you can deploy them to the masses.

As always, there will be lots of items for giveaway!

I just finished reading this article in the Eagle-Tribune regarding the Salem Town Charter Commission. Among the items in the article was the comment that a first organizational meeting will take place this Thursday, June 18th at 7PM at Town Hall. There likely will be little discussion regarding the charter itself at this meeting; there is a lot of “housecleaning” that needs to take place.

After reading the article, I took a few minutes to see if there was any information provided by the town itself regarding the meeting…

• A quick scan of the 3 town cable channels showed regular programming. This is to be expected.
• The Salem Town web site showed nothing. Literally. Went to the Calendar link; the calendar shows nothing past April.I decided to also check the Boards, Committees and Commissions page. This obviously has had no update in months.
  The Eagle-Tribune had an interesting article a couple of weeks back regarding area town web sites and how many are not well maintained. In the year 2009, many look to the Internet as a way of getting the latest information. Unfortunately, it appears as though the town does not see this as a priority for communicating with it’s constituency.
• The web site for the local cable access channel yielded – well, I will let you judge for yourself.

I voiced concern a few weeks back about the need to be as open and transparent about the process as possible. If not for the writing of Jarret Bencks in the Eagle-Tribune, it would be difficult (if not impossible) to have quickly found out about the upcoming meeting. I say this to all the commission members, selectmen and government officials…

You already have concerns within the community regarding the Charter Commission, it’s goals and it’s interest in serving the needs of the community ay-large. Any behavior or action, be it intentional or unintentional, that leaves the voting base feeling “left out” will quickly erode confidence in the commission and process and all involved. It is imperative that information regarding meetings of the Charter Commission (or any town meeting, for that matter) be announced in a timely fashion (1 or 2 days before the meeting does not count and instead gives the impression of trying to keep people away) using whatever means possible.

An outcome of this Thursday’s meeting is the creation of a regular schedule for future meetings. This will be the chance to prove that the commission wishes to be open in communicating with the public. I urge the members of the commission to take the steps necessary to ensure that the word gets out regarding future meetings.  

This is a little “off-topic” for me since it involves an iPhone application, but the moral of the story is relevant to us all…

An old friend of mine recently has proven to me once again that anyone can have a great idea *and* bring it to fruition with the right effort and desire. My friend, Brent Pope, had an idea for a mobile phone application. He’s not a software developer, but believed the idea was worth trying to bring to market. You can read all about this in an article at the Orlando Sentinel web site. The result of his efforts – Wait Times, an application now available at the iPhones App Store.

Outside of huge kudos to Brent for the accomplishment, his story reminds me of something I have talked about for years when it comes to technology in general, and mobile technology in particular.

There are still a world of possibilities when it comes to new ideas for technology. Anyone can be the originator of these ideas as well; it doesn’t have to a hardware or software engineer. The ideas don’t have to come from people who live and breathe the technology world. Often times, the best ideas come from those who have no connection to the target of their idea. Everyday people can come up with the best innovations.

I often hear people with ideas for mobile technology say things like “well, I’m not a programmer”, “I can’t make this hardware” or “I don’t know where to begin”. Brent’s story is example of what I normally reply in response to these statements - He took the step to find out more. What can you do? Well,…

• Ask friends, family and associates for opinions. Bounce the idea off of them to gauge the value in your idea. Just remember to focus on the value of the idea and NOT personal opinions on whether you should be doing this. In other words – don’t let them bring you down.
• Ask friends, family and associates for possible contacts. If what you are thinking of is software-related, it is hard nowadays not to find someone within the ‘Six Degrees of Separation” who could be of assistance.
• Let the Internet be your “research friend”. It is too easy today to use the Internet to find out whether your idea can have value. Whether it is researching the uniqueness of your idea, checking online forums to gauge desire/interest, or to look for the resources that could help to bring your idea to reality, the Internet is always the best way to start the journey.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that Brent could have been like many other people who have an idea. He could have simply said “Nah – I’m sure somebody else is doing that”, or “I’m not a developer – why bother?” He didn’t, though. The result is a great application to meet a unique need. As a developer, the ultimate compliment I could pass along is “Dang – I wish I had thought of it first.” ;-)

As a young student, I can still remember what I considered to be the worst punishment in school. It was when the actions of one or a small number of classmates resulted in the entire class being punished for their actions. One classmate would act up, and the whole class would lose recess. A handful of classmates would talk during lecture, and the entire class would receive extra homework. It wasn’t the fact that someone did something wrong and they were punished that bothered me; it was that I was punished for something that I didn’t do and was out of my control. I hadn’t thought about those days in a long time, but an event at my son’s elementary school this past week brought those memories right back to mind.

My son’s elementary school has an annual event to acknowledge those parents who have volunteered time and/or services to the school during the year. They have a “volunteer tea” event in the cafeteria. It is only about an hour, and I think in concept it is a nice way of saying “thank you”. As the person responsible for building and maintaining the school’s PTA web site, I was once again invited to the event. Now, the Volunteer Tea in and of itself did not bother me; instead, it is an aspect of the morning’s events that were a bit disturbing.

Once the doors are opened to the school for the attending parent, each parent is to go to their child’s classroom. There, they are presented with a flower by their child and then they (and their child) leave the classroom to go to the volunteer tea together. I happened to get to my son’s class a little later then others. As my son was coming out, I looked back in the classroom to see a number of other children left behind. A couple of the children had pretty sad faces as well. It was then I realized a couple of things…

1. My son was being rewarded for someone else’s actions. I’m not so sure that I wanted this lesson to be taught to my son. He didn’t view this event as much as an acknowledgement of my work as he did a chance to get out of class for an hour, and for nothing he himself accomplished. Nowadays, as we often lament on how are children are being raised in a “me generation”, rewarding a child for anyone else’s actions only reinforces the notion that you can “get something for nothing”.
2. Those children left in the classroom were being punished for something they didn’t do. Before I hear someone say “well, their parents didn’t contribute”, ask yourself the following – Is it right to punish a child for their parent’s actions? And let’s not be too quick to judge here; for many parents, job roles and responsibilities combined with being a parent make it difficult (if not impossible) to volunteer. Not volunteering does not make a bad parent, by the way. My parents were wonderful, yet both worked full time jobs. They did make the time to be there for me and my sister, however.
   Even if those children left in the classroom didn’t have to do extra work, the fact that they were omitted from attending the event is a form of punishment that was entirely out of their control. As opposed as I am to a teacher doing this to one class, I am even more opposed to all classrooms doing this at one time.

As I stated up front, I applaud the idea of acknowledging school volunteers. With ever-increasing burdens on schools systems, these people often are the difference makers for a quality educational experience. If you want to have the parents attend an event like the Volunteer Tea, then great. Just don’t take the spirit of that “thank you” and tarnish it by making it a reward for some students and a punishment for others, especially when neither the rewarded or punished are responsible.

I’ve been a bit… no, a lot busy since last Tuesday’s Salem, NH Town Charter Commission election. Alas, I did not make the cut. Congratulations to all those who did. I have no regrets about running.. I want to thank all of those who supported me, both in spirit and votes. I am thankful for the opportunity to meet a few people along the way and have the discussion around how we see our town government progressing.

Now that I am back to the role of “regular citizen” with regards to the commission, I do a have small “wish list”  to pass along…

WISH #1: Be open during the process.
I never did and never falter on this one belief – the decisions and recommendations made by this commission affect ALL the residents and businesses in Salem. As such, the discussions and deliberations should be open and transparent and available to all. If there is a meeting of the commission planned, announce it in a timely and easily accessible fashion. Broadcast the meetings on local cable access and replay them whenever possible. Make it clear to everyone that you want the public to be aware of what is going on with the commission. Anything less than this, even with the noblest of intentions, will give the impression that there is something to hide. That will only lead to distrust of the commission by the citizenry, and that is the LAST thing this commission needs.

WISH #2: Be objective.
I know that a number of the candidates who ran for the Town Charter Commission made it very clear their positions regarding the Town Charter. As I stated before, commission members are expected to evaluate all the possibilities for town government. If you intended to sit on such a commission just to assert your will on the other members, not only will little be accomplished; you will be remembered for your actions. It is good to have an opinion, but but to attempt to impose it on others. This commission provides an opportunity to make the right decisions for the residents and businesses of Salem, but it will require objectivity and perspective to work effectively. Remember – you were not elected to represent yourself or a “group of tens”; you were elected to represent the population of Salem, NH as a whole.

WISH #3: It’s not about the past or the present – it’s about THE FUTURE.
Over the past month and a half, I often heard discussions around Salem turn to “back in <fill in the date>, we…”. I acknowledge and have come to embrace the history of our town. I do not believe, however, that the past should necessarily control the future. Change is inevitable; we see it every day here in Salem. What worked yesterday may work tomorrow, but it is not a guarantee. The Town Charter Commission MUST evaluate options and put them in the context of where Salem is heading in the coming years.

WISH #4: Engage in conversation outside the commission.
My opinion on making the issue of the Town Charter an open discussion with as many citizens as possible has not changed. If anything, it has grown over the past several weeks. I sincerely believe that all commission members take every available opportunity to reach out beyond your circles of friends and families to talk to and (most importantly) listen to what people think and what they want. You will then truly be serving your community in the best way possible.

Finally, as for me… I’m not going anywhere (at least, not outside of my daily commute). I will be watching and listening, to the commission and others. I hope that future writings here will be to say that my wishes have been granted. If they haven’t, I will still keep writing though.

Today was my youngest son Drew’s 5th birthday. When it came to the cake for his party, he did NOT want the traditional “frosting-laden” birthday cake. Instead, he wanted a Whoopie Pie. Now normally, you think “Whoopie Pie” and the phrase “single serve” comes to mind, right? Well, not if you order from Wicked Whoopies, a Maine-based company/website. There, you will uncover the “Jumbo Wicked Whoopie”. Just how much whoopie is in a Jumbo Whoopie? Let this video clip I took at the party answer this question for you…

Now THAT’S a Whoopie Pie! Wicked Whoopies has plenty of other Whoopie Pie goodies available too. If you consider yourself a Whoopie Pie connoisseur, check it out.

By the way – the kids devoured this at the party. I couldn’t help but indulge a bit myself, and I’m not a fan of these things. It WAS good, though ;-)

This morning I received a telephone call from a local “constituent” who wished to ask me some questions before voting in Tuesday’s Salem Town Charter Commission election. I was quite pleased, as I have always promoted an open dialog in whatever way a person feels comfortable. What ensued, however, raised some personal “red flags”.

I fully expected any number of questions regarding my qualifications for the commission position or my positions on items directly related to the role of of the commission. There were no such questions ever asked. Instead, I was asked to explain my position on “family values”, including:

• Religion
• Pro-Life v. Pro-Choice
• Gay Marriage
• Rights of gay couples to adopt children

Now, we all have our own personal belief systems. They all help us to live a proper life and to help temper our decisions. Of course, this includes determining who we believe will best represent us at various levels of government. Where I have grave concerns here is when a belief system becomes the sole basis of electing officials and removes perspective.

As a society, we consistently oppose governments which are based upon fundamentalist religious views. We fight these types of government to typically be highly repressive and devoid of human rights concerns. If, however, we were to all vote based solely upon religious beliefs similar to the ones I received in my phone call, would we not run the exact same risk for our own government? I am finding this thinking to be increasingly prevalent in our own community lately. As a result ,more people are not voting for candidates based upon the “job description” of the political position and the candidate’s ability to fit that job description, but whether or not the candidate “thinks like I do” – regardless of the candidate’s qualifications and positions relevant to the post. That type of attitude only leads to community divisiveness – and “us” or “them” mentality that only leads to political ruin. 

In order to better understand the possible consequences of complete “belief system thinking”, consider the following scenario…

You are applying for a job for which you are highly qualified based upon your education and experience. You sit down for an interview with the employer, expecting to be asked questions relating to your resume and past employment experiences. Instead, the employer only asks you questions relating to your “values”. Later, you discover that you do not get the job. Instead, someone with less qualifications and abilities got the job because they answered those less-than-relevant questions to the employer’s liking. Fortunately, we have laws that protect from this type of discrimination in the workplace, and for good reason. They are there to ensure that truly qualified people are given a fair chance at employment regardless of religious belief. While I clearly understand that employment is different from the electoral process, there is still a great deal of relevance to be found here.

As I stated before, it is important to to include one’s belief systems when voting for a candidate who’s job role may include deciding on issues relating to those beliefs. However, -

• Common sense dictates that you should also temper your beliefs in judging a political candidate to ensure that they have the overall capabilities to govern effectively in the role they are being asked to take;
• Common sense also dictates that you should look carefully at the description of the office or position up for election and ask yourself honestly if your belief system will even come into play.

That second point is what truly disturbs me regarding current voting trends in our community. The last time I checked, the role of a member of the Salem Town Charter Commission will never really address any of these “family value” issues. I could see the asking of such questions as “Are you honest?” or “Are you generally nice to people and concerned about others?”; those values transcend all people and situations and are always relevant. However, those questions were never asked of me in my phone conversation today; I can only assume, therefore, that like any relevant questions to the post, whether I was honest or concerned about others in my community didn’t matter.

Belief systems (be religious, spiritual or otherwise) are intended to aid us in making the right and just decisions in life; they should never control all other thought processes. In the case of politics and electing proper representatives, using only a belief system runs the risk of your choice not representing you or the community as it often forgoes asking the real questions relevant to decision-making. In the end, how we elect those who will represent us in some form or another should be the proper combination of beliefs and common sense.  

One final thought – While the discussion I had this morning concerned me, it in no way will stop me from what I have said from the outset. As voters this Tuesday, you should feel free to have a dialog with any candidate about the Town Charter, your beliefs on the Town Charter and forms of government and any candidate’s relevance or qualifications for that commission post. I am still here for that discussion with you. Let’s keep that discussion relevant, though, to ensure that we pick the right commission members to represent all of Salem, NH both proudly and effectively.

So, not everybody out there takes advantage (or even understands) how to use RSS (“Really Simple Syndication”) feeds. An example of an RSS feed is right here on this web site (the “Subscribe” menu item at the top of the page). For those that are unaware, RSS provides a way of receiving web site updates without having to visit the actual website itself. It does, however, require software (an RSS reader) to receive the updates. If you want to receive updates but don’t want to go through the hassles of using an RSS reader, there is an alternative – getting the updates in email.

A great example of a service that sends RSS updates to your Inbox is the appropriately named Feed My Inbox website.

Simply enter in the full URL (web address) of the website and your email address, then click on the “Submit” button. You will then be sent a confirmation email (to ensure that someone is not trying to set up feeds using your email address). Follow the instructions, and voila! – whenever new posts are made to the website, you will receive that post in email.

If you are looking for a way to keep up with the latest news here, simply use Feed My Inbox and enter http://www.sorcinelli.net – it’s just that simple!

As a result of running for a seat on the Salem, NH Town Charter Committee, I have been giving some thought to our town’s form of government – the “Town Meeting” format. Historically, this form of government is one of the purest forms of democracy. Recently, though, I’ve come to realize that - in the traditional sense, at least – this form of government encounters challenges brought about by changes in a town’s makeup.

Before going any further here, let me make a few points abundantly clear…

1. I absolutely respect the Town Meeting government model in it’s intent. It embodies the spirit of community representation when it is used under the  appropriate circumstances.
2. There is nothing that prevents the spirit of the Town Meeting form of government from continuing in any community and still providing value. It will, however, require modifications from the original structure to be successful.

In order to clarify my feelings on these two points, I will need to elaborate a bit more.

The intent behind the Town Meeting form of government has always been to provide a more direct input by citizens in the decision-making process for a town. By having town meetings, it was the intent of this format to allow all citizens to participate in the process. In essence, the Town Meeting is intended (much like other election processes) to deliberate and vote on key issues relating to the town. It was, therefore, an extension of the concept of representative government, with the citizens themselves becoming direct representatives.

The Town Government format harkens back to times when -

• The town itself was smaller in population. This allowed for the actual town meeting to take place in a single gathering place with the expectation of all citizens attending and participating in the process.
• The town population base cold easily attend meetings. The town meeting format harkens back to a day when most citizens both lived and worked in their community, with little restriction on travel and availability. This would ensure as high an attendance for the meeting as was possible.

For some communities in our state (and our country in general), these two factors still exist. For them, the Town Meeting form of government in it’s strictest sense could therefore be effective. However, changes in our society have made these two prerequisites for the Town Meeting format come under scrutiny.

Salem, NH now has a resident population approaching 30,000. If a town deliberative session were held today and even 10% of the population attended, it would be difficult (at best) to hold a single meeting in a single location and accommodate all of the attendees. Of course, this has not been an issue up to this point.  This leads me to the second change in our town’s makeup – the ability to attend meetings.

The original spirit of the Town Meeting form of government assumed there would be little difficulty for a citizen attending a meeting. Today’s society, however, is far different than the the society of even 50 years prior. Differing work schedules and work locations make for challenges. Work and personal obligations now dominate many schedules, making attendance a challenge. I don’t think this should serve as an excuse for community participation, mind you; it is a modern-day reality, though. The result, when combined with increased resident population, is a decline in the number of citizens who actually do participate in the deliberative process. This is where the potential lies for the Town Meeting form of government to go awry.

Remember that, regardless of the type of government used, an overriding goal of democratic process is representative government. It is why we have elections and elected officials. In addition to those elected to office serving as the voice of their constituency, these same people are accountable for their actions as the elected representative. If we do not like what an elected official is doing, we vote them out of office. If we feel the situation is dire, we have processes for more immediate action. The Town Meeting form of government, and more importantly the deliberative session, runs the risk of working in complete contrast to the representative government principle.

At a deliberative  session, those in attendance were not elected in any way. They also have no accountability for their actions to any constituency. Yet they are afforded the same power as an elected body in that they can determine what can or cannot be presented to the voting population at large. When only 30, or even 600, out of a voter base of nearly 20,000 are able to control control and potentially manipulate what does or does not get to be voted upon by all citizens, then the spirit of the Town Meeting form of government risks being corrupted. While some may argue that this is similar to government today, the key differentiator is no accountability. Attendees are not charged with being representative of anyone, and there is no way to hold them accountable to anyone.This is one of the cold hard realities that the Town Charter Commission must address. As always, there are options.

I believe that in addition to the wholesale move to other forms of government, research should also be performed to determine the legalities and acceptance of modifications to the Town Charter in conjunction with the Town Meeting format. Here are just a couple of options to consider –

1. Can the vote of attendees on warrant articles at a deliberative session be treated similar to the recommendations of committees rather than a “on or off the ballot” vote? In this case, the deliberative session still provides a value for the town population to discuss and debate these articles, but the vote does not deny the general population their right to vote on the article on election day. I am not saying that this is the only solution – I am, however, saying that those elected to the Town Charter Commission need to weigh all of the options here and (most importantly) consider the residents of Salem, NH as a whole when making these decisions.
2. Can there be modifications to the voting process that would require a larger attending base to properly reflect the overall voting population (like a quorum)? If the voting base at a deliberative session has the ability to vote a warrant article on or off the ballot, can there be some sort of threshold for attendance that would better reflect the size of the overall voting population, thereby allowing for some greater chance of diversity in representation at the session and mitigating the chance of control by a small group or individuals.

I am certain there are many more creative possibilities to explore. This is what I would expect the Town Charter Commission to do, and I equally expect all Salem residents to hold those elected officials (including myself hopefully) accountable for. I still am open (and very interested) in hearing what you have to say on the matter as well. What do you think?