October 30th, 2009 Al Kalter
Tomorrow is Halloween, a holiday that seems to expand in its scope every year. Trick-or-treating on Halloween, along with stuffing your face and watching football with family on Thanksgiving, may be the two most singular American cultural experiences we have. Certainly, the exchange students we’ve come to know over the years enjoy these holidays, and even if Halloween is recognized in their home countries, it is nothing like it is here. In fact, it seems that it’s nothing like it used to be right here either.
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October 6th, 2009 Al Kalter
Are you ready for some football? I can’t sing it as well as Hank Williams can, but at this time of year, it’s an appropriate topic for some blog ramblings, don’t you think? I’ve got some thoughts on a variety of football issues. So let’s kick it off with …
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September 23rd, 2009 Steve Frizzell
Monday we announced the availability of APPX 5.0.0 Release Candidate #1.
We are getting really close to finally releasing APPX 5.0.0. We do expect that there will be a Release Candidate #2 and then we expect to release APPX 5.0.0. I’m sure that many of you want me to tell you when APPX 5.0.0 will be officially released. Unfortunately, we do not have a firm date. Much will depend on how long it takes receive feedback from those of you who are testing Release Candidate #1 and how long it takes us to fix any new problems that might be found. But, I am optimistic that we are now looking at a timeframe of weeks - not months.
Many of you may be wondering if there is anything you can do to help us complete this release. Actually, there is. You can volunteer to test Release Candidate #1. We could really use a few more test sites. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Al Kalter (al@appx.com) and let him know of your interest.
Thank you for your support.
Steve
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September 21st, 2009 Al Kalter
Traveling is such a wonderful experience. All the travel documentaries that are available on cable TV can’t begin to enrich an individual the way that stepping outside one’s local area can. Of course, like anything else, too much travel can become overbearing - there was a time many years ago when I found myself in a new city every week, sometimes several times a week, and I would literally wake up and wonder what town I was in. Nowadays, my travel is more limited, and perhaps because of that, more enjoyable. So let me tell you about my September travels, two trips down, one to go.
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August 14th, 2009 Al Kalter
It may have been 20 years ago today that Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play, but it was 40 years ago this week that changed music and culture forever, as almost half a million young fans (some called them “hippies”) descended on farmland belonging to Max Yasgur in Bethel, New York, for the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Billed as “Three Days of Peace and Music,” the festival may have served as a coming out party for a generation, and, dear readers, I had tickets.
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July 16th, 2009 Al Kalter
Forget about the fact that I’m a month late with this blog. That’s only true if we accept an arbitrary assignment calendar that requires me to post something at least once a month (I know - it used to be a lot more often than that). Instead, I will accept that I am a day late, because what I am going to tell you about happened 30 years ago yesterday.
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May 27th, 2009 Al Kalter
A lack of sunshine in the Sunshine State, a wedding in the Andes, a championship in Foxboro … Today’s post will touch on a variety of unrelated topics. Come along for the ride, if you like.
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May 8th, 2009 Al Kalter
OK, I’ll admit it. I just don’t get the fascination with Facebook and Twitter. If that officially makes me an old fart, so be it. But I just can’t figure out why people want to know that someone else has a headache today, or that they are in the midst of some mundane activity that is so non-essential that there is time to tell anyone interested exactly what it is that they are doing. Have we become that narcissistic that we believe people care about that stuff? Does it make a headache any less painful to share news of it with acquaintances in cyberspace, so that someone else can reply, “Poor baby. How about an electronic hug (or an electronic aspirin)?” Like I said, I just don’t get it.
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April 17th, 2009 Al Kalter
APPX is downsizing. No, that is not a reaction to Steve’s post identifying the various characters that inhabit these premises. Instead, it’s a way of saying that a program that he introduced in January is rather effectively reducing the size of our staff. Cumulatively, by over 100 pounds already!
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April 15th, 2009 Steve Frizzell
APPX Software, Inc., of course, is a company. Specifically, APPX Software, Inc. is a corporation incorporated in the State of Florida. But, simply saying that APPX Software, Inc. is a company doesn’t really tell you much. A company is actually defined by the people who work for the company or otherwise contribute to the success of the company. In our case, we have a talented, dedicated group of individuals who develop and support our products. These individuals are, collectively, the “company”. When you think of APPX Software, you are probably visualizing an entity comprised of the collective talent and personality of all of these various individuals. So, to answer the question of “who” is APPX Software, Inc. the answer is as follows:
- Administration
- Steve Frizzell, President
- Al Kalter, VP of Reseller Services
- Joe Ortagus, Operations Manager
- Brenda Frizzell, Administrative Assistant
- Sue Kalter, Receptionist
- Karen Arigo, Account Payable
- R&D
- Pete Brower, Director of R&D
- Nolan Smith, Programmer Analyst
- Jon Swinkendorf, Programmer Analyst
- Conjectrix, Inc.
- Consulting Services
- Gary Rogers, Director of Consulting Services
- Jeff Prentice, Programmer Analyst
- Pat Zaborky, Programmer Analyst
Some of you may wonder why Conjectrix, Inc. is listed in the R&D group. Several years ago, Korry Douglas and his wife, Susan, formed Conjectrix, Inc. as a consulting business and Korry resigned to devote his time to his own company. APPX Software, Inc. outsources a portion of its R&D with Conjectrix, Inc. So, even though Korry is no longer an employee of APPX Software, Inc., he is still actively involved in R&D at APPX Software, Inc. as a consultant of Conjectrix, Inc. and continues to make a significant contribution to the R&D effort at APPX Software, Inc.
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