I’m launching a new conference with the folks over at Seattle 2.0 called Deploy – Today’s Technology for Tomorrow’s Apps. It will be held Monday, November 8th from 9AM – 5PM at the Bell Harbor Conference Center. Deploy is a conference for technology builders and geeks. New languages, frameworks, storage systems, methodologies and devices are creating entirely new opportunities. Deploy 2010 is a “Show and Tell” conference where speakers will discuss hot new topics and show what can be done – and how. Topics will include NoSQL, Mobile and Tablet, Game Mechanics, Open Source, Location and more.

We have a great lineup of speakers including:

• Doug Cutting, creator of Hadoop, Lucene and Nutch
• Andre Charland, creator of PhoneGap – the open source cross-platform mobile technology
• Brian Fling, founder of Pinch/Zoom and creator of the NY Times iPad app
• Poornima Vijayashanker, first engineering lead at Mint and bizeebee creator
• Bob Walsh, author of “MicroISV: From Vision to Reality and the Web Startup Success Guide

Deploy 2010 will be a technology conference focused on software development. It’s perfect for developers of all backgrounds, whether you are still in college or are an industry veteran . It’s also valuable to managers and executives who have technologists in their organizations.

As an added bonus, we are reserving eight spots for show and tell. For three minutes, up to 8 lucky winners, will be able to get up on stage and either speak about or demonstrate their technology. During the morning session, we’ll collect entries from attendees who want to present their technology during the Tech Demo segment. At 1:30 PM, after the lunch break, we’ll draw the entries from a hat. The lucky winner has three minutes to get up on stage and present his or her technology.

If you are a developer or hard-core tech enthusiast, I hope you will join us for join us for Deploy.

Deploy – A New Seattle Conference for Developers

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The easiest ways to get programs these days is to download them. When I was getting started with software, you had to actually go to a store and buy them. The Internet didn’t really even exist back then! There’s software available for any platform these days, but this video is all about Windows… and the ease with which you can install programs using Ninite.

Choose your software, and let Ninite do the rest. It will download and install your programs with the default setup. It will even say “NO WAY!” to installing toolbars and other such nonsense that some programs try to sneak past you. All Ninite will do is install the latest versions of the programs that YOU choose. Nothing else is downloaded or installed onto your system.

I can’t think how it could get any easier than this, other than if the service could read your mind and know what programs you want without your having to click anything. Ninite has excellent choices, as well. I recommend – and use – many of them already! Choose your favorites in the following categories and get ready for easy install:

• Web browsers
• Instant Messaging programs
• Media Players<
• Photo/Graphic Editors
• Document creation and editing programs
• Anti-Virus programs
• Runtime utilites (such as Java)
• Utilities
• Compression programs
• Developer tools

The list is very good, with excellent choices… and it sticks them all into one nice, neat little installer.

If you know of any other easy ways to get the latest and greatest software, I’d love to hear about it.

[awsbullet:windows software install package]

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How to Install Your Favorite Windows Software

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Tomo sent me a list of his top 5 ways to keep your computer free of Spyware. At the same time, I was lucky enough to receive a savings to pass along to all of you for SuperAntiSpyware!

This is “tomo30″ from your chat room. I wanted to take you up on the top 5 list. This will help people with the best ways to fight spyware.

• Go on the offensive. Fight spyware before it even arrives on your computer. Make sure you have a good ‘anti-virus software’ program running on your PC. Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) now offer anti-virus programs or even purchasing a commercial product is to your advantage. Get a program or product that is regularly updated to fend off the latest viruses, adware, worms, trojans and spyware. One excellent program is SuperAntiSpyware, which you can save $10.00 on by clicking the link for that to purchase.
• Put up a Firewall. A Firewall should be one of your first lines of defense against spyware. A Firewall is simply a system or gateway designed to prevent unauthorized access to your computer or network. Check out ZoneAlarm or Comodo, they provide a free Firewall for individual users. Download their program and place it on your PC.
• Don’t open Emails and Attachments from people you don’t know. Use common sense, DON’T open any emails from people you don’t know. Especially, do not open any Attachments until they are scanned for spyware and viruses. Many mail servers will do these scans for free.
• Keep Your Operating System Up to Date. Be aware of what’s on your system: do regular spyware and adware scans to see exactly what’s on your computer. Know your machine! You may be horrified to learn someone may be monitoring your every ‘keystroke’ and every ‘image’ you’ve viewed on your computer. So scan regularly and also make sure you download the newest updates from your Operating System; these often contain patches or fixes for serious breaches of security on your PC.
• Back-up Your System. If all the above steps fail, nothing is foolproof, any computer that uses the Internet can be hacked, so you need to back-up your important data. You can use floppy disks, CDs or use a second computer that’s not connected to the net just for storage or back-up of you sensitive data/programs. An inexpensive notebook computer can be used to make daily/weekly back-ups of your vital data and programs.

Be safe, be smart. Make sure to check out the great savings on SuperAntiSpyware!

Here are some more coupons if you’re looking to save on a different antispyware package:

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Find More Coupons

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Anti-Spyware

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Wicket just doesn’t understand that there ARE a lot of excellent programs out there for your Mac. And now, for the next few days, you can save up to 70% off of the regular price for many titles you’ll want to own!

Visit GiveGoodFood2YourMac to get these amazing savings. If you purchase three (3) apps, you’ll save 30%. If you buy five (5), you’ll save 40%. Buying seven (7) apps saves you 50%, and purchasing ten (10) of them will save you a whopping 70%!! Yes, it’s real and yes, it’s completely legal.

‘Give Good Food to your Mac’ is a community action where independent Mac developers come together and build this exciting project : for about 12 days, every Mac users are able to download and taste more than 25 great Mac applications and enjoy discounts ranging from 30 to 70%.
No junk food, just healthy, tasty and innovative products. And because we are speaking ‘haute cuisine’ everybody gets to create their own combination of titles matching their own and unique taste.
The kitchen will remain open until the 8th of december.

Here are just some of the programs you can choose from:

• Remote Buddy
• Personal Trader
• Cover Scout
• Magnet
• Morphage
• iDive
• Expert Wine Cellar
• iStopMotion Home
• Cheetah3D
• Banner Zest
• Video Pier
• Pulp Motion
• CSS Edit

Hurry and check this deal out! There isn’t much time left! To answer any additional questions about payment, how it works, or anything else, please visit their FAQ Page.

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Mac Software

In prepping for my talk at BloggerCon tomorrow, I thought I’d incite a riot tonight. Most of the world won’t be there, but you can tune into the live stream at some point right after lunch (when I’ll be leading the discussion). I put all of this in tonight’s Lockergnome report for the Windows Fanatics channel, but I figured it was worth repeating here… where I’m likely to get flamed out of existence.

What would the world of software be like if the inmates were running the asylum? I’d argue a lot more useful, and a lot more beautiful. But users are usually in the back seat when it comes to the evolution of a utility – from beginning to end. We have all the control in the world, but few of us ever choose to exercise that power. We are expected to treat developers like they’re gods – but they’re no more important in this cycle than the average user. Let me put it to you this way: software is useless if there isn’t anybody using it. There are certainly users who are content to take whatever programmers hand to them, but I don’t believe that this Utopian level of interaction will exist for too much longer. The world of software is getting larger by the day, and more people are finding new and different ways to improve lives with digital code. I got sick and tired of meeting programmers and developers with attitude, so I decided to get an attitude myself – as a power user. I expect better, I expect faster, I expect smarter, I expect more.

Base functionality is crucial – but I would argue that software should look twice as good as it runs (which should be fast to begin with). I’ve been labeled a “nitpicker” for pointing out font inconsistencies and pixel discrepancies. But if you don’t complain about the things you’d like to see change, how do you ever expect them to change? Developers develop, users use – but it’s up to both parties to communicate with one another. When I see a new piece of software that holds promise, I call out its shortcomings in the hopes it will be closer to perfection with the next revision. Programmers believe that they’re in charge – but I believe the true power lies within the user. Years ago, when I started Lockergnome, there were few people writing publicly about good (or bad) digital tools on the desktop or the Web. The blogosphere has since exploded with a flood of positive and negative opinions – and if you’re not a part of that revolution, then you’re missing out on an important part of history. I’ve seen countless developers struggle to get their apps recognized – but most of those same programmers suffer from an overinflated ego and miscalculation of a uesr’s wants, needs, and desires. Users don’t talk – but I’m asking you to start flappin’ your electronic gums for the sake of making the software landscape better for all of us.

FWIW, I love developers – couldn’t live without ‘em. Can’t live with ‘em, either. :)

Users vs. Developers