The Menlo Briefs

Has paired programming hit the mainstream? - Here at Menlo, we've been doing paired programming since the start. It's one of the central tenets of our working philosophy, and the one that draws the most questions from visitors and potential clients. The New York Times has an article this month that describes paired programming at another company (Hashrocket) and nicely addresses some of the questions we commonly face. [more]

Like a FICO score for music - For every hit on the music charts, there are many more who are never heard. "The hard thing for songwriters is that it's difficult to get an objective opinion," says one songwriter. "You love your song and so does your mom, but will anybody else?" Enter uPlaya.com, a website where songwriters can upload their songs to be evaluated against thousands of factors that create a human response to music (such as beat and harmony, for example). [more]

Touching the untouchable - One of the chief drawbacks of current hologram technology is the lack of a physical sensation. When you reach out to touch a hologram, your hand passes right through -- that is, until now. Japanese scientists have developed software that relies on ultrasonic waves to create pressure when you "touch" a hologram. [more]

Help is available - Yes, that's really me on the cover of Forbes magazine! I founded Menlo Innovations to help software product companies like yours. And at Menlo, we practice what we preach - making products more valuable to your customers, more friendly to your users, and more profitable to you! Come to Menlo for a Taste of how we use High-tech Anthropology^® to build highly useable and useful software for you and your customers.

Trouble in Bangalore - The work hours have resulted in workers suffering from obesity, sleep disorders, depression and broken relationships. Though the problems may sound familiar to American ears, I'm actually talking about the outsourcing industry in India. [more]

Dem Bones, dem bones, dem wooden bones? - Italian scientists have developed a new procedure to turn blocks of wood into artificial bones. The researchers chose wood because it closely resemble the physical structure of natural bone, "which is impossible to reproduce with conventional processing technology." [more]

There's an app for that - If you're wondering whether the H1N1 flu epidemic has infiltrated your town yet, Children's Hospital Boston has the iPhone app you need. Called "Outbreaks Near Me", the application gives users real-time information about the type and scope of any new disease outbreaks in their area. [more]

Want to peek inside Menlo? - Now you can! We've written a book -- Innovative Exploration -- which is virtual tour of the Menlo Innovations Software Factory™. It describes Menlo's unique approach to software design and development which has been featured in Forbes Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and other local and national publications. Menlo Innovations was inspired by the creative and productive work environment demonstrated at Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, New Jersey "Invention Factory." Like Edison, the driving factor behind everything Menlo does is to create useful and marketable products that deliver real business value. You can preview the book by clicking on the thumbnail above or by clicking here.

Tricksy spammers - Spammers have launched a particularly nasty campaign in recent days. Under the guise of a message from the IRS -- "Notice of Underreported Income -- the message encourages recipients to click a link to review their tax statement. The IRS says not to open attachments or click on links included in e-mail that claims to come from the tax-collection agency. [more]

Metal makes for strange bedfellows - "Brutal Legend" is not like other music-based games that are dominating the industry these days. For starters, it stars Jack Black and features appearances by Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister and Ozzy Osbourne. While it's not the first heavy metal inspired video game, it may very well be the first one where you're armed with both a broadax and a guitar as weapons. [more]