Report for May, 2010

[Kris]

For the month of May, 2010
============================

Members and advisers,

This is a report of completed work, work in progress, and financial
statements of
The Fireworks Project for the month of May, 2010.


Finances
----------

Our financial spread sheet (balance statement) can be found at <http://
spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AqaYslezw-
VQdFNFc2N6b3g3X09tY3BTU0xSV1dNRGc&hl=en> (Google spreadsheet)

We have not had any financial activity in March.

However, last month I mentioned that I will be transferring our domain
registration and hosting fees from my personal expenses over to our
collective LLC. There will be a todo item listed on Basecamp for this
soon if there is not already.

Also, I'll mention once again that, since our bank account only has
$324 in it, we may need a cash infusion soon.

Last year my wife and I loaned the corporation $2,000 at an interest
rate of 9% per year compounded semi annually. The balance with
interest is due on June 4th of this year. Obviously the corporation
does not have the cash to pay this off, so we will be refinancing the
loan again in June under the same terms for another year.

I bring this up, not only to keep you in the loop, but also to get you
thinking about loaning to The Fireworks Project corporation yourself.
Loaning money to the corporation is the only means of investing in the
company financially, and it is that way by design. It is obviously our
preference to only accept loans from our members. Since it would be so
difficult for us to get a loan from any other party, we pay the
generous 9% semi annual rate.

If you want to put some of your extra money to good use at a 9% per 6
months, please let me know as soon as possible. Our loan is past due
and needs to be refinanced. If there are no takers within a few days
I'll refinance it myself.


Work In Progress
----------------

* The Crown Construction pilot program is being implemented as a
Firefox extension. This is my absolute top priority. It has blown past
the deadline I set for it by 59 days at last count. It's been a real
grind for me to get this thing ready to ship. I've encountered some
big challenges working with a single page application in the browser.

In retrospect, it was a terrible idea to build a production
application on top of a framework that is being built at the same
time. I've had to start completely from scratch 3 times. The 'just
make it work' approach does not work with frameworks.

Instead, we should have started the company with a really simple
project, or employed ourselves doing web design projects while we
designed, prototyped, and built a more reliable bug free framework.
We'd be miles ahead of where we are now. But, oh well. There's nothing
I can do about it now except to get it done and move on.

* Launch version 0.1 of the company. We're working on 're-messaging'
the content on our website to more accurately communicate who we are
and what we do. But our 0.1 launch is more than just the website.
Please have a look at the discussions and get involved with this
initiative whenever you possibly can.

* <http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/posts/
31834068/comments>
* <http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/
milestones/14887069/comments>

* Kixx, our client application delivery platform. The next hurdles to
overcome are module mashup security and a redesign of the dynamic
module loader to go along with new thinking in the CommonJS community
called 'ensure()'.

<http://wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/Modules/Async/A>
(reference)

We're also looking forward to some architecture ideas for a
dependency managed packaging and distribution system. Software
architects should not miss out on these discussions.

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/posts/
28550029/comments>
(discussion)

* We're working on version 0.2 of the HTTP API for DCube, our
distributed data service. Authentication and authorization has taken a
front seat. In particular, we're thinking of OAuth and OpenID.

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/posts/
30445248/comments>
(discussion)

* Two week projects. We're holding a brainstorming session to
consolidate possible ideas for applications we could quickly build
this summer to establish momentum for our 'crew', gain a small victory
or two, and hopefully get some traction with users. Please take part
in the discussions.

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/posts/
31996217/comments>
(discussion)

* Trademark. Our logo, the rocket, was accepted as a trademark on the
condition that we narrow the scope of the description of the business
activities associated with it. The name 'The Fireworks Project' was
flat out rejected because it infringed on two other technology
companies, namely Adobe's Fireworks application. Again, if we narrow
the description of our business activities to differentiate ourselves,
we might be able to get the name accepted on the second try. Mike is
currently working on this. Any thoughts or ideas should be posted to
Basecamp.

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/posts/
31224453/comments>
(discussion)

* Last month I mentioned that I needed to get back to work on another
iteration of our business model description. Well, this month we got a
good start on The Fireworks Project owner's manual with our points
voting guide. I hope to add our business docs to that document
collection soon.

<http://github.com/pappyo/MemGuide>
(git repository)

<http://www.fireworksproject.com/guide/overview>
(web site)

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/milestones/
14595838/comments>
(comments)

* I've promised this before, but this time I really mean it. I'm going
to make a prioritized list of things to do on Basecamp any day now.

Completed Work
--------------

* I made a bug fix in the DCube client library (2010-05-08).

<http://github.com/kixxauth/DCubeJS/commits/master>
(commit log)

* I sprinted through another 'draft' iteration of our main website and
I'm looking for comments and ideas.

<http://github.com/kixxauth/Fireworks-Project-Website/commits/
version_5>
(commit log)

<http://5.latest.fireworkscomputer.appspot.com/>
(staged website)

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/posts/
31834068/comments
(comments)

* Mike and I got The Fireworks Project owner's manual kicked off. We
set up a Git repo and published it on the website.

<http://github.com/pappyo/MemGuide>
(git repository)

<http://www.fireworksproject.com/guide/overview>
(web site)

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/milestones/
14595838/comments>
(comments)

* We've completed some great discussions about our upcoming 2 week
project.

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/posts/
31996217/comments>
(discussion)

* We've also wrapped up a brainstorming session for a tag line.

<http://fireworksfactory.basecamphq.com/projects/3775079/milestones/
14443142/comments>
(discussion)

* Mike continued our community involvement campaign with a trip to
Philadelphia for the Edcamp unconference and came away with a few
ideas and at least one good connection. I'm calling it community
involvement for lack of a better term, but the idea is that our best
sales, marketing, and recruiting tools will be made out in the real
world, interacting with real people.


Points Allocation
-----------------

Erwin Atuli,
Didiet Noor,
Joan Piedra,
Thomas Hintz,
Igor Petrov,
Shawn Davis,
Mike O'Hara,
Kris Walker

are eligible to vote points for May 2010 and should do so by posting
to this discussion thread.


The current points standings are here:
<http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AqaYslezw-
VQdG5yR0lCXzFWMkRPUWV5VDRZazJHR0E&hl=en>
(Google spreadsheet)

Currently we have 294,160 points in the pool, which means *appx 2,242
points is equivalent to 1% of the company*.


Thanks everyone,
-- Kris

[Kris]

** sorry... CORRECTION: 1% == 2,942 points **

There has been increased activity on our Basecamp discussion list
which I believe is really important right now. I'm voting the most
points to those who I think are the most consistent and thought
provoking contributors to the discussions... Thanks.

Mike O'Hara + 23,500 (8%)
Also went to Edcamp Philadelphia as well editing a big chunk of our
points voting guide project.

Thomas Hintz + 11,800 (4%)
Michael Robers + 11,800 (4%)
Shawn Davis + 8,000 (3%)
Igor Petrov + 7,400 (2.5%)
Didiet Noor + 3,000 (1%)

[Michael O'Hara]

Kris Walker:  22,000 - Essentially spearheading almost all of the operations.  Hopefully this changes next month.

6000 points each to;

Thomas Hintz 
Michael Roberts 

Shawn Davis 
Igor Petrov 
Didiet Noor

I know Thomas and Michael have been contributing the bulk of the conversation,  The equal point total isn't meant to penalize them, but to encourage more conversation from others.

--
Mike O'Hara
The Fireworks Project
www.fireworksproject.com
@pappyo
617-778-4858

[Freshman]

Kris Walker + 2500 for managing most things and for work on the
various projects
Mike O'Hara + 1000 for work on the points voting guide and the trip to
Edcamp

Michael Roberts + 300 for discussion participation
Shawn Davis + 200
Igor Petrov + 200
Didiet Noor + 200

Thanks everyone for your work and participation!

...if I did something wrong or not advisable, please let me know :-)

Thomas Hintz

[Shawn Davis]

2500 to Kris, same reason as Mike's above.
2500 to Mike O., especially for helping me know how to vote. :-)
500 to each of the following:

Thomas Hintz
Michael Roberts
Igor Petrov
Didiet Noor

[Igor Petrov]

Kris Walker ...... 2,500
Mike O'Hara ..... 2,000
Thomas Hintz ...... 500
Michael Roberts .. 500
Shawn Davis ....... 500
Didiet Noo ........... 200