Today is the first day of our fourth quarter. Our third quarter results will be out in a few weeks and I'm sure our sales teams will have been putting in some long hours during the last few weeks.
So, with today being the first day of the final quarter of the year, one would expect any organisation that reports in such a fashion to be quieter than normal.
My experiences today would suggest that some religious groupings don't follow such an approach.
I was summoned from the shower this morning by the loud buzz of my apartment's intercom. The caller was not a delivery driver but somebody trying to interest me in some religious literature ("It's a companion to the Bible but also has advice on day-to-day living.") I'm sure it was good stuff but I politely passed on the opportunity.
Returning from a trip into Central London, I exited Tower Hill tube station for the short walk to Tower Gateway DLR station. I passed a table which had lots of people sitting around it. There were some strange-looking machines (not dissimilar to old-style supermarkets' scales). A large sign advertised "Free Stress Tests". Hmmmm...... I was intrigued by the claim that they could objectively measure "stress" but the books littering the table with an author's name of "L. Ron Hubbard" was all I needed to see and I scuttled past.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Munich Airport
I have been in Munich this week teaching a class on WebSphere Process Server. I arrived at the airport today to fly home. I am travelling on a codeshare Lufthansa/Cirrus airlines flight to London City Airport and am carrying a paper ticket. Worse, I had a bag to check in (the plane is very, very small). I didn't have high hopes. I was resigned to having to queue with the rest of the econo-scum to check in. True to form, I arrived at the airport to find the economy line threading its way around the airport :-(
I was about to join it when I thought I'd better check I was in the right line. I'm glad I did. The assistant pointed out that I could use the machines to check in. Even though I had a paper ticket. And even though I had a bag to check in. Wow!
The machine read my ticket and even printed a baggage tag. There was a video demonstration of how to attach it to my bag. I was then told to put the bag on a conveyer and it was whisked into the bowels of the airport. That is so cool! Why can't they do this at Heathrow? (Or LCY for that matter)?
I was about to join it when I thought I'd better check I was in the right line. I'm glad I did. The assistant pointed out that I could use the machines to check in. Even though I had a paper ticket. And even though I had a bag to check in. Wow!
The machine read my ticket and even printed a baggage tag. There was a video demonstration of how to attach it to my bag. I was then told to put the bag on a conveyer and it was whisked into the bowels of the airport. That is so cool! Why can't they do this at Heathrow? (Or LCY for that matter)?
Monday, September 26, 2005
Trading update
It's time to report on the success (or otherwise) of my investments.
It is probably unwise to declare (or admit...) how much I'veblown invested in my stock market experimentation. However, I can talk in percentages and proportions of the total amount staked without scaring anybody who knows me.
The figures below take into stamp duty, commission and other dealing costs but do not include any fixed annual fees
As we can see, most of my bets have paid off so far. However, I did not spread the risk evenly. To a first approximation, my exposure is in the proportion 1/9 FTSE, 3/9 Japan, 5/9 Morrison.
The net is that my position (before annual charges) is a +£0.02 profit. After charges, I am currently running at a -£24.98 loss.
However, my Morrison investment is a long-term bet. I already have too much exposure to the hi-tech industry (my job depends on it and I own stock in my employer). The only other business I begin to understand is retail. I believe that both Wal*Mart and Tesco are saddled with too much expectation: there is too much risk that they will provide a nasty surprise - good news is expected.
Amongst the other major retailers active in the UK, I had to decide between Sainsbury and Morrison. I gambled, perhaps unwisely, that there could not possibly be any more bad news coming from Morrison whereas signs of recovery at Sainsbury had already started to show and were probably already priced in. This belief in the intelligence of the City may prove to be unfounded (and there certainly was more Morrison news to break as my loss will testify) but time will tell if it was a good long-term punt.
The remarkable Japanese investment was prompted by observations in the Economist that businesses were reporting strong profits and that, even though the government at the time was having difficulty passing its reform package, both parties supported the concept of economic reform in principle. I gambled (successfully so far) that even if the government lost their postal privatisation bid, things would still turn out OK. The result of the recent election has shown this to be the case so far. When considering Japan as a non-UK target for diversification, I also considered Germany. I am currently very glad I steered clear of Frankfurt!
It is probably unwise to declare (or admit...) how much I've
The figures below take into stamp duty, commission and other dealing costs but do not include any fixed annual fees
| Investment | Date | Initial Price (pence) | Current Price | Return |
| FTSE 100 Tracker | 12 August 2005 | 540.9 | 545.25 | +0.8% |
| FTSE 100 Tracker | 22 August 2005 | 540.12 | 545.25 | +0.95% |
| MSCI Japan Fund | 24 August 2005 | 613.5 | 667.50 | +8.8% |
| Morrison (Wm) | 16 September 2005 | 183.97 | 177.25 | -3.7% |
| MSCI Japan Fund | 19 September 2005 | 640.00 | 667.50 | +4.3% |
As we can see, most of my bets have paid off so far. However, I did not spread the risk evenly. To a first approximation, my exposure is in the proportion 1/9 FTSE, 3/9 Japan, 5/9 Morrison.
The net is that my position (before annual charges) is a +£0.02 profit. After charges, I am currently running at a -£24.98 loss.
However, my Morrison investment is a long-term bet. I already have too much exposure to the hi-tech industry (my job depends on it and I own stock in my employer). The only other business I begin to understand is retail. I believe that both Wal*Mart and Tesco are saddled with too much expectation: there is too much risk that they will provide a nasty surprise - good news is expected.
Amongst the other major retailers active in the UK, I had to decide between Sainsbury and Morrison. I gambled, perhaps unwisely, that there could not possibly be any more bad news coming from Morrison whereas signs of recovery at Sainsbury had already started to show and were probably already priced in. This belief in the intelligence of the City may prove to be unfounded (and there certainly was more Morrison news to break as my loss will testify) but time will tell if it was a good long-term punt.
The remarkable Japanese investment was prompted by observations in the Economist that businesses were reporting strong profits and that, even though the government at the time was having difficulty passing its reform package, both parties supported the concept of economic reform in principle. I gambled (successfully so far) that even if the government lost their postal privatisation bid, things would still turn out OK. The result of the recent election has shown this to be the case so far. When considering Japan as a non-UK target for diversification, I also considered Germany. I am currently very glad I steered clear of Frankfurt!
It's a good job I don't get travel sick
London City Airport has its merits but the tiny little runway isn't one of them. It means that only tiny little aeroplanes operate from it.
The plane to Munich this morning was one of those tiny ones with three seats across (i.e. in a seat-aisle-seat-seat configuration) and about ten rows from front to back. It was small enough for one air hostess to run the whole show. It was most amusing to watch her stop every so often as she was giving the German safety presentation so she could put down the microphone and pick up her prop (life jacket, oxygen mask, etc, etc).
However, the best part of the journey was just how easily these little planes can be thrown about by turbulence. For most of the journey the plane was shaking up, down, left right, sometimes all at once. It made for an entertaining trip but spoiled my attempts to read the paper.
Anyhow, I'm now in Munich and helping deliver education on WebSphere Process Server to a group of skilled IBM Software Consultants.
My pitch today was on our support for JMS. I think I did a reasonable job of getting the concepts across but it reminded me again how important it is to be able to tell a story with a presentation. The core of the deck was an advanced topic on solving a particular problem that is created when you try to interface a legacy messaging system with a web-services oriented environment. The solution is very easy with WebSphere Process Server. The difficulty is showing that there really is a problem to be solved. So - I had to spend a lot of the presentation making the case for why there was indeed a problem to be solved and - once the existence of the problem was accepted - why it wasn't something that could be done "out of the box". I think I may have overdone the set-up but hopefully the attendees will be able to explain why this is a genuine problem that any integration product must solve and, more importantly, be able to see through the complexity of the problem and articulate the simplicity with which which this new solution allows us to solve it.
The plane to Munich this morning was one of those tiny ones with three seats across (i.e. in a seat-aisle-seat-seat configuration) and about ten rows from front to back. It was small enough for one air hostess to run the whole show. It was most amusing to watch her stop every so often as she was giving the German safety presentation so she could put down the microphone and pick up her prop (life jacket, oxygen mask, etc, etc).
However, the best part of the journey was just how easily these little planes can be thrown about by turbulence. For most of the journey the plane was shaking up, down, left right, sometimes all at once. It made for an entertaining trip but spoiled my attempts to read the paper.
Anyhow, I'm now in Munich and helping deliver education on WebSphere Process Server to a group of skilled IBM Software Consultants.
My pitch today was on our support for JMS. I think I did a reasonable job of getting the concepts across but it reminded me again how important it is to be able to tell a story with a presentation. The core of the deck was an advanced topic on solving a particular problem that is created when you try to interface a legacy messaging system with a web-services oriented environment. The solution is very easy with WebSphere Process Server. The difficulty is showing that there really is a problem to be solved. So - I had to spend a lot of the presentation making the case for why there was indeed a problem to be solved and - once the existence of the problem was accepted - why it wasn't something that could be done "out of the box". I think I may have overdone the set-up but hopefully the attendees will be able to explain why this is a genuine problem that any integration product must solve and, more importantly, be able to see through the complexity of the problem and articulate the simplicity with which which this new solution allows us to solve it.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
You only have to be one page ahead of everyone else
It's an often-repeated joke in technical education that the instructor is usually only one page ahead of the audience. I've rarely found that to be the case when on internal education but I've often felt it was the case when I've been teaching. Perhaps it's the consultant's normal fear that everybody else knows just as much as you do.
I fly to Munich tomorrow morning to teach an advanced class on the new WebSphere Process Server product. I'm looking forward to this. There is a lot of great stuff in the product that will really help our clients. This is a chance for me to spread the word.
I'll be flying from London City Airport. This is my favourite of all London's airports. I must admit the main reason is because it's only a ten minute journey from my flat. However, it always has the shortest queues and is the least stressful to fly from. I just wish it would fly to more destinations. All they have to do is fill in the Royal Victoria Dock to make space for a second runway (preferably one that can take Jumbos). Map. Is that too much to ask? Is blighting the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents with pollution and unbearable noise 24/7 really too high a price to save me the pain of travelling to Heathrow?
I fly to Munich tomorrow morning to teach an advanced class on the new WebSphere Process Server product. I'm looking forward to this. There is a lot of great stuff in the product that will really help our clients. This is a chance for me to spread the word.
I'll be flying from London City Airport. This is my favourite of all London's airports. I must admit the main reason is because it's only a ten minute journey from my flat. However, it always has the shortest queues and is the least stressful to fly from. I just wish it would fly to more destinations. All they have to do is fill in the Royal Victoria Dock to make space for a second runway (preferably one that can take Jumbos). Map. Is that too much to ask? Is blighting the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents with pollution and unbearable noise 24/7 really too high a price to save me the pain of travelling to Heathrow?
In a world of mediocrity...
... tiny things like this wonderful video shine like a beacon.
It's not often that I see something and realise there was no way on earth I could ever have created it. Law, medicine, construction, newsreading... if I'd chosen to pursue most careers, I'm sure I'd have made a success of it. This little animation, however, reminded me that there are some things I'd never have been able to do. Excellent! The world isn't a bore, after all.
It's not often that I see something and realise there was no way on earth I could ever have created it. Law, medicine, construction, newsreading... if I'd chosen to pursue most careers, I'm sure I'd have made a success of it. This little animation, however, reminded me that there are some things I'd never have been able to do. Excellent! The world isn't a bore, after all.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Sometimes it's more comforting to be misled
I have just returned from a business trip to Milan. Like every other Italian Hotel I have ever stayed in, there were no ironing facilities in the room. I learned long ago not to bother requesting them; I've yet to find an Italian Hotel that will send an Iron to my room. I don't know if this is a clever scam, an extraordinarily excessive (and wide-spread) intolerance of risk or because I've managed to offend the concierge in some way or another.
Consequently, I had to pay the hotel to press my shirts for me. I can't help thinking my company's shareholders would have preferred to keep that money for themselves, all things being equal. According to Yahoo, there are about 1.6 billion outstanding IBM shares. Which means I own approximately 0.00000625% of the company. I'm outraged! Under any theory of stock valuation, my net worth should have dropped by 0.000003125p. I'll never stay in that hotel again!
I digress. The purpose of this posting was actually to comment on the interesting taxi ordering system in use in Milan. It is very, very difficult to pre-book the city's cabs. Instead, one calls a taxi firm shortly before you need the cab and are given an estimated time of arrival and badge-number. That is: you'll be able to tell which cab is yours from a number on the door.
I was in Milan for a sales engagement. Normally in these situations, I get my hotel to book the cab the night before so I am sure to have one and can be sure of getting to my client's office in good time. The Milanese approach adds to my stress: I don't know how long I will have to wait for a cab when I book it so I either have to take a risk (based on previous observations of the time taken to arrive) or book absurdly early and risk losing some sleep. A dilemma indeed.
However, as inconvenient as this approach is, it does have some merits. In London, for example, it is possible to pre-book a black cab. This gives the comforting feeling of knowing you won't have to hail one the next morning. Unfortunately, it is a charade. From bitter experience, I have reached the conclusion that booking a black-cab gives only the sense of security. It seems that the request is only broadcast by the control room shortly before the cab is needed. So, in the event of bad traffic or unexpectedly high demand for cabs, there is a good chance your request will not be honoured.... so no different to the Milanese system except that it encourages you to relax rather than plan for the worst case.
Consequently, I had to pay the hotel to press my shirts for me. I can't help thinking my company's shareholders would have preferred to keep that money for themselves, all things being equal. According to Yahoo, there are about 1.6 billion outstanding IBM shares. Which means I own approximately 0.00000625% of the company. I'm outraged! Under any theory of stock valuation, my net worth should have dropped by 0.000003125p. I'll never stay in that hotel again!
I digress. The purpose of this posting was actually to comment on the interesting taxi ordering system in use in Milan. It is very, very difficult to pre-book the city's cabs. Instead, one calls a taxi firm shortly before you need the cab and are given an estimated time of arrival and badge-number. That is: you'll be able to tell which cab is yours from a number on the door.
I was in Milan for a sales engagement. Normally in these situations, I get my hotel to book the cab the night before so I am sure to have one and can be sure of getting to my client's office in good time. The Milanese approach adds to my stress: I don't know how long I will have to wait for a cab when I book it so I either have to take a risk (based on previous observations of the time taken to arrive) or book absurdly early and risk losing some sleep. A dilemma indeed.
However, as inconvenient as this approach is, it does have some merits. In London, for example, it is possible to pre-book a black cab. This gives the comforting feeling of knowing you won't have to hail one the next morning. Unfortunately, it is a charade. From bitter experience, I have reached the conclusion that booking a black-cab gives only the sense of security. It seems that the request is only broadcast by the control room shortly before the cab is needed. So, in the event of bad traffic or unexpectedly high demand for cabs, there is a good chance your request will not be honoured.... so no different to the Milanese system except that it encourages you to relax rather than plan for the worst case.
The wisdom of crowds
There is an interesting piece on the Google Blog right now. They describe how the aggregated bets of hundreds of employees on future events turn out to be remarkably accurate.
The phenonemon they utilise is the one that means "Ask The Audience" inevitably gives a more accurate answer than the other "Millionaire" lifelines.
The Wisdom of Crowds is different to Herd Behaviour. My success of my nascent investment strategy is predicated on pretty much everybody else in the world being wrong so this is fortunate.
The phenonemon they utilise is the one that means "Ask The Audience" inevitably gives a more accurate answer than the other "Millionaire" lifelines.
The Wisdom of Crowds is different to Herd Behaviour. My success of my nascent investment strategy is predicated on pretty much everybody else in the world being wrong so this is fortunate.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Meet the family
Part 2 in an occasional series. Today's colleague of distinction is Mr. Jon Mc Namara.
Jon - one of the top WebSphere MQ Workflow and Business Process Management consultants in Europe - moonlights as a top-flight comedian. His next gig is currently advertised outside Waitrose in Canary Wharf. Get your tickets for his Cabot Hall show early... it's sure to sell out.
Jon Mc Namara
Jon - one of the top WebSphere MQ Workflow and Business Process Management consultants in Europe - moonlights as a top-flight comedian. His next gig is currently advertised outside Waitrose in Canary Wharf. Get your tickets for his Cabot Hall show early... it's sure to sell out.
Jon Mc Namara
Friday, September 16, 2005
Sun. Why?
I tend to take a dim view of Sun Microsystems. I just don't understand what they're for. Would the world be a worse place if they just shut up shop and went away? It's not clear to me that it would.
However, I do find Jonathan Schwartz's weblog entertaining and his enthusiasm goes a long way towards making them interesting. His recent broadside against Dell was most enjoyable.
Every so often, however, he goes one step further. Today's posting - a plea to his employees to quit leaking information to the press - was very brave. I don't think we'd have ever done that. Jonathan: I still don't understand what Sun is for but I take my hat off to you nevertheless.
However, I do find Jonathan Schwartz's weblog entertaining and his enthusiasm goes a long way towards making them interesting. His recent broadside against Dell was most enjoyable.
Every so often, however, he goes one step further. Today's posting - a plea to his employees to quit leaking information to the press - was very brave. I don't think we'd have ever done that. Jonathan: I still don't understand what Sun is for but I take my hat off to you nevertheless.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Which would you choose?
I just came across a cool little thought experiment courtesy of this article outlining the Fed's current dilemma in setting interest rates.
The experiment referred to is Newcomb's Problem - it's been around for years, it would seem, but it's new to me. I think the author above does a good job of explaining it but here's a Wikipedia link to it too.
I think I'd probably take both boxes.
The experiment referred to is Newcomb's Problem - it's been around for years, it would seem, but it's new to me. I think the author above does a good job of explaining it but here's a Wikipedia link to it too.
I think I'd probably take both boxes.
WebSphere Process Server is born!
I no longer have to disguise what all my trips to California have been about... WebSphere Process Server has been announced.
We actually announced a lot more than that today (see our press release for the full excitement).
Wolfgang does a good job of describing Process Server on developerWorks.
I'm one of the core software services team who have been working with this product prior to its release and am now good to go.... I'll be visiting lots of clients over the coming weeks and months... if you see me, say hello! And... if you can tell me what this was, I'll buy you a drink.
We actually announced a lot more than that today (see our press release for the full excitement).
Wolfgang does a good job of describing Process Server on developerWorks.
I'm one of the core software services team who have been working with this product prior to its release and am now good to go.... I'll be visiting lots of clients over the coming weeks and months... if you see me, say hello! And... if you can tell me what this was, I'll buy you a drink.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Oracle buys Siebel
Oracle buys Siebel
This is hardly a surprise but it's useful as evidence that the Applications business is clearly going through a massive consolidation. Peoplesoft, JD Edwards and Siebel are no longer independent entities, Microsoft is beginning to realise that their multiple overlapping offerings need to be rationalised and SAP are circling and surveying the spoils.
Note: I'm not authorised to speak for IBM and I don't pretend to. This is, after all, my personal blog. And speaking as such, this deal is pretty exciting for me. I work in Application Integration... I build Enterprise Service Buses and deploy Service Oriented Architectures for a living. The solutions I build and the products I work with are purpose-built to protect clients in these sorts of situations. "Your strategic CRM/ERP/xxx platform may have developed an unexpected inflection in its roadmap? No worries! We can deal with this without impacting any of your other systems."
Interestingly and concurrently, eBay bought Skype today for what Scoble thinks might be around $4bn. That's a decent proportion of the $5.85bn that Oracle paid for Siebel. I wonder who got more for their money? $4bn seems like a lot of money for an internet phone company... even one as hyped as Skype.
For those IBMers who read his blog, here's what I wrote on my internal-only site: click here
This is hardly a surprise but it's useful as evidence that the Applications business is clearly going through a massive consolidation. Peoplesoft, JD Edwards and Siebel are no longer independent entities, Microsoft is beginning to realise that their multiple overlapping offerings need to be rationalised and SAP are circling and surveying the spoils.
Note: I'm not authorised to speak for IBM and I don't pretend to. This is, after all, my personal blog. And speaking as such, this deal is pretty exciting for me. I work in Application Integration... I build Enterprise Service Buses and deploy Service Oriented Architectures for a living. The solutions I build and the products I work with are purpose-built to protect clients in these sorts of situations. "Your strategic CRM/ERP/xxx platform may have developed an unexpected inflection in its roadmap? No worries! We can deal with this without impacting any of your other systems."
Interestingly and concurrently, eBay bought Skype today for what Scoble thinks might be around $4bn. That's a decent proportion of the $5.85bn that Oracle paid for Siebel. I wonder who got more for their money? $4bn seems like a lot of money for an internet phone company... even one as hyped as Skype.
For those IBMers who read his blog, here's what I wrote on my internal-only site: click here
What on earth was that?
This is quite possibly the largest caterpillar I have ever seen in my life. It was so large I thought it was a fat slug
At least I *think* it was a caterpillar.
From the number of squirrels, foxes and weird freakish insects like this that I see, I'm convinced there's more wildlife in East London than the "countryside".
At least I *think* it was a caterpillar.
From the number of squirrels, foxes and weird freakish insects like this that I see, I'm convinced there's more wildlife in East London than the "countryside".
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Sausages and doughnuts
The Guardian relaunch in a midsize "Berliner" format tomorrow. I still remember when they launched their last version in the eighties. I liked the last page of Saturday's edition.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Apple AirTunes
Wow.
I'm probably very late to this party but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it as much as everybody else.
Having ripped all my CDs and put the originals into storage (well, the loft), it means I need only my amplifier and iPod base station to access my entire music library in the living room. Wouldn't it be good, I thought, if I could choose tracks on iTunes on my laptop and get the sound to come out of the stereo. It would be so much easier than having to get out of my seat every time I wanted to change playlist. My mind leapt to thoughts of trailing wires, laptops that were suddenly somewhat less mobile and several broken ankles.
Mercifully, Apple have a solution: AirPort Express (and Extreme if you have more money than sense). It does lots of other cool stuff but the main thing one would buy it for is its iTunes integration. Put simply, you plug it in, install the software on your computer and five minutes later you can wirelessly beam music from your computer to your stereo. How cool is that?!
I'm probably very late to this party but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it as much as everybody else.
Having ripped all my CDs and put the originals into storage (well, the loft), it means I need only my amplifier and iPod base station to access my entire music library in the living room. Wouldn't it be good, I thought, if I could choose tracks on iTunes on my laptop and get the sound to come out of the stereo. It would be so much easier than having to get out of my seat every time I wanted to change playlist. My mind leapt to thoughts of trailing wires, laptops that were suddenly somewhat less mobile and several broken ankles.
Mercifully, Apple have a solution: AirPort Express (and Extreme if you have more money than sense). It does lots of other cool stuff but the main thing one would buy it for is its iTunes integration. Put simply, you plug it in, install the software on your computer and five minutes later you can wirelessly beam music from your computer to your stereo. How cool is that?!
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Would Inspector Sands please come to the operations room
Some excitement on my journey into work this morning. The Waterloo & City line train I was taking arrived at Waterloo and we spilled onto the platform and I headed for the exit.
I always try to position myself so I exit the train as close as possible to the platform exit I want. This meant I was one of the first people to bound up the steps to the main concourse..... except the gate at the top was shut.
So I turned round and tried to follow the rest of the crowd who had also seen this and were heading towards the other exit. Foiled! I hate being at the back of lines.
And then, in the distance, I could see half of the passengers turn around and start walking towards us - the other exit was presumably also closed. Excellent! They weren't going to get out before me after all!
I thought I'd better listen to the incessant passenger announcement in the station which was increasingly intruding into my enjoyment of the music on my iPod. There was some sort of emergency evacuation underway it seemed. Inspector Sands seemed to play a big role in all of this.... that means fire if I'm not mistaken. So locking us on the platform was probably a thoroughly sensible thing to do.In some alternate reality.
I followed a passenger back up the original staircase and saw that the gate wasn't locked. He opened it and we left through that exit.
I have no idea what the real issue was but I'm glad I travel the "wrong" way on the Waterloo & City for my commute and so have to share the train with very few people. If London Underground had decided to trap the W&C passengers at Waterloo during the afternoon rush hour there would have been mayhem.
In other exciting Underground-related news, they now have online "ETA Boards" for some of the lines. Hurrah!
I always try to position myself so I exit the train as close as possible to the platform exit I want. This meant I was one of the first people to bound up the steps to the main concourse..... except the gate at the top was shut.
So I turned round and tried to follow the rest of the crowd who had also seen this and were heading towards the other exit. Foiled! I hate being at the back of lines.
And then, in the distance, I could see half of the passengers turn around and start walking towards us - the other exit was presumably also closed. Excellent! They weren't going to get out before me after all!
I thought I'd better listen to the incessant passenger announcement in the station which was increasingly intruding into my enjoyment of the music on my iPod. There was some sort of emergency evacuation underway it seemed. Inspector Sands seemed to play a big role in all of this.... that means fire if I'm not mistaken. So locking us on the platform was probably a thoroughly sensible thing to do.In some alternate reality.
I followed a passenger back up the original staircase and saw that the gate wasn't locked. He opened it and we left through that exit.
I have no idea what the real issue was but I'm glad I travel the "wrong" way on the Waterloo & City for my commute and so have to share the train with very few people. If London Underground had decided to trap the W&C passengers at Waterloo during the afternoon rush hour there would have been mayhem.
In other exciting Underground-related news, they now have online "ETA Boards" for some of the lines. Hurrah!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Advanced Enterprise Service Bus
Hurrah! V6 of WebSphere Message Broker was announced today.
This version represents a major step forward in our message brokering technologies. The title of the article is significant: Broker v6 is all about building advanced ESBs.
I do wish we'd include some screenshots in our announcement literature though.
This version represents a major step forward in our message brokering technologies. The title of the article is significant: Broker v6 is all about building advanced ESBs.
I do wish we'd include some screenshots in our announcement literature though.
Beware experts!
Apparently three-quarters of Economists don't understand the concept of "Opportunity Cost". They only think they do.
This is scary, if not entirely unexpected.
It would be interesting to perform a similar experiment on IT professionals. Take the enterprise space. There are some key concepts you have to understand in this arena if you are to avoid being dangerous.
These are concepts that transcend fads or products. They include a fundamental understanding of transactions, two-phase commit, messaging, object-oriented programming, security, project-management principles and business context (and more).
There are moves afoot to improve the professionalism of the IT trade. They are, at present, experience based. Perhaps there should be some testing of core knowledge too.
This is scary, if not entirely unexpected.
It would be interesting to perform a similar experiment on IT professionals. Take the enterprise space. There are some key concepts you have to understand in this arena if you are to avoid being dangerous.
These are concepts that transcend fads or products. They include a fundamental understanding of transactions, two-phase commit, messaging, object-oriented programming, security, project-management principles and business context (and more).
There are moves afoot to improve the professionalism of the IT trade. They are, at present, experience based. Perhaps there should be some testing of core knowledge too.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Go, Steve!
I've long said that Microsoft is probably the only software vendor I would consider working for if I didn't work for IBM. Little anecdotes like this remind me why. I'm just glad I wasn't sitting near that desk.
The Michael Larsen Incident
Bruce Schneier's excellent blog pointed at this somewhat more frivolous than usual link today. I loved the description of Mr. Larsen's realisation that he had no exit strategy.
Bruce Schneier's blog is absolutely fascinating and should be considered a must-read for anybody working in IT on real projects. Indeed, given that he describes the importance (and difficulty) of computer security so clearly, he should be on every computer science course's reading list; failing to heed his advice should be a sackable offence.
Bruce Schneier's blog is absolutely fascinating and should be considered a must-read for anybody working in IT on real projects. Indeed, given that he describes the importance (and difficulty) of computer security so clearly, he should be on every computer science course's reading list; failing to heed his advice should be a sackable offence.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Don't believe the majority; they're usually wrong
This link contains the "Zurich Axioms", a set of simple rules devised by a set of Swiss investors.
I particularly like 10: "ON CONSENSUS: Disregard the majority opinion. It is probably wrong."
That's not an investment-specific thought.... it should probably be pinned above every IT consultant's desk too.
I particularly like 10: "ON CONSENSUS: Disregard the majority opinion. It is probably wrong."
That's not an investment-specific thought.... it should probably be pinned above every IT consultant's desk too.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
What can we learn from BA's woes?
I am in San Francisco again and I had ample opportunity to read the Sunday Papers on the way over. Leaving aside the inevitable sinking feeling when you read the same re-written press release for the fifth time, it's a most enjoyable way to spend a flight; there are usually far too many distractions to read even one Sunday paper when at home, I increasingly find.
Flying on the ever-wonderful Virgin Atlantic, I didn't have to experience the after-effects of BA's in-flight-catering snafu.
We hear a lot about the supposed perils of outsourcing to the outsourced employees or the supposed (but usually fictional) danger to national economies if the outsourcing also involves off-shoring. However, this is one of the first examples I've seen in the mainstream press where the potentially adverse effects of oursourcing can impact the business doing the outsourcing. It makes for interesting study as it's a case study in what not to do: there was no alternative supplier, the outsourced workers were in the same union as many of BA's in-house staff (and in many cases were married to them) so industrial problems could spread very easily, the service provider was in financial difficulties and it seems that BA did not have advance warning of what was to come.
In many ways, I suspect they were treating Gate Gourmet as a "black box". They provided a service for a price and presumably had service-level agreements by which they were measured. This is the essence of the Core Competency doctrine.
This is interesting to me since we preach the same doctrine in the IT world - albeit under a different name: SOA.
I was reflecting on what the equivalent to the BA/Gate Gourmet problems would be in the SOA world. The micro-level is probably the easiest to look at. We rely on a service provider (either inside or outside our organisation) to provide the fulfilment for a service we need. The contract is the interface. The question we should be asking ourselves is: what would be the impact on my solution if the provider of this service broke their SLA?
My work is giving me an intense focus on the concepts of "Versioning" and "Dynamicity" at present. I've seen some wonderful solutions for this problem in recent weeks.... can't wait to be able to blog about them...
Flying on the ever-wonderful Virgin Atlantic, I didn't have to experience the after-effects of BA's in-flight-catering snafu.
We hear a lot about the supposed perils of outsourcing to the outsourced employees or the supposed (but usually fictional) danger to national economies if the outsourcing also involves off-shoring. However, this is one of the first examples I've seen in the mainstream press where the potentially adverse effects of oursourcing can impact the business doing the outsourcing. It makes for interesting study as it's a case study in what not to do: there was no alternative supplier, the outsourced workers were in the same union as many of BA's in-house staff (and in many cases were married to them) so industrial problems could spread very easily, the service provider was in financial difficulties and it seems that BA did not have advance warning of what was to come.
In many ways, I suspect they were treating Gate Gourmet as a "black box". They provided a service for a price and presumably had service-level agreements by which they were measured. This is the essence of the Core Competency doctrine.
This is interesting to me since we preach the same doctrine in the IT world - albeit under a different name: SOA.
I was reflecting on what the equivalent to the BA/Gate Gourmet problems would be in the SOA world. The micro-level is probably the easiest to look at. We rely on a service provider (either inside or outside our organisation) to provide the fulfilment for a service we need. The contract is the interface. The question we should be asking ourselves is: what would be the impact on my solution if the provider of this service broke their SLA?
My work is giving me an intense focus on the concepts of "Versioning" and "Dynamicity" at present. I've seen some wonderful solutions for this problem in recent weeks.... can't wait to be able to blog about them...
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
If you can't explain something clearly...
... then I tend to assume you don't really understand it.
I have found again-and-again that when I can't find a straightforward, clear way to explain something, it means that I don't fully understand the concept myself. I experienced this a few days ago when replying to a colleague's request for information about a particular feature in a new product we're working on.
I started to write a reply, only to find myself writing longer and longer sentences, with parentheses inside parentheses and qualifications, exclusions and special cases galore.
I stepped back and realised that my problem was that I couldn't articulate - even to myself - what the core purpose of the function was. I was able to explain how to use it. I was able to describe when and where it would and wouldn't work but I couldn't say what it was for. That is: I couldn't tell a story to explain why it was even put there in the first place. What was going through the architect's mind? What problem were they trying to solve?
Once I did this thought experiment, I rapidly realised what it must be for... a bit of research and a couple of Sametimes later and I was done. I had a crisp explanation that told a good story and which made sense.
I was thinking about this last night when I thought: "How do I explain my job?" I currently have two 'stories' for my job: the one I tell non-IT people (family, friends, etc) and the one I tell IT people. The first one explains what an IT consultant does in a general sense. The second story assumes this knowledge and concentrates on what differentiates my job from other consulting roles.
I realised that neither of them was satisfactory and resolved to use the pages of this journal to rectify the problem.
Accordingly, I have set myself the task of crisply describing what it is, exactly, that I do... in a way that is accurate, understandable and interesting. I don't promise to be quick but I will get there...
I have found again-and-again that when I can't find a straightforward, clear way to explain something, it means that I don't fully understand the concept myself. I experienced this a few days ago when replying to a colleague's request for information about a particular feature in a new product we're working on.
I started to write a reply, only to find myself writing longer and longer sentences, with parentheses inside parentheses and qualifications, exclusions and special cases galore.
I stepped back and realised that my problem was that I couldn't articulate - even to myself - what the core purpose of the function was. I was able to explain how to use it. I was able to describe when and where it would and wouldn't work but I couldn't say what it was for. That is: I couldn't tell a story to explain why it was even put there in the first place. What was going through the architect's mind? What problem were they trying to solve?
Once I did this thought experiment, I rapidly realised what it must be for... a bit of research and a couple of Sametimes later and I was done. I had a crisp explanation that told a good story and which made sense.
I was thinking about this last night when I thought: "How do I explain my job?" I currently have two 'stories' for my job: the one I tell non-IT people (family, friends, etc) and the one I tell IT people. The first one explains what an IT consultant does in a general sense. The second story assumes this knowledge and concentrates on what differentiates my job from other consulting roles.
I realised that neither of them was satisfactory and resolved to use the pages of this journal to rectify the problem.
Accordingly, I have set myself the task of crisply describing what it is, exactly, that I do... in a way that is accurate, understandable and interesting. I don't promise to be quick but I will get there...
Monday, August 22, 2005
Bambi
The Register has a frivolous piece on Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) that makes a good point
Philip Howard correctly observes that simply monitoring key statistics of your business without any context is pretty useless and that you really need some analytics to go alongside. He recommends applying Business Intelligence techniques but the point is more general..... the real value of Business Process Management and Business Monitoring comes when you can intelligently make use of the data you're collecting. You inventory is x. So what?
Are you meeting your key performance indicators? Is your profitability good? Are your revenues on target? Where are we compared to the same time last year? How many orders have we processed this month compared to last month? What proportion of our applications required a manual approval? Is this down on last week? Did the process improvement we implemented deliver the benefits promised?
Philip Howard correctly observes that simply monitoring key statistics of your business without any context is pretty useless and that you really need some analytics to go alongside. He recommends applying Business Intelligence techniques but the point is more general..... the real value of Business Process Management and Business Monitoring comes when you can intelligently make use of the data you're collecting. You inventory is x. So what?
Are you meeting your key performance indicators? Is your profitability good? Are your revenues on target? Where are we compared to the same time last year? How many orders have we processed this month compared to last month? What proportion of our applications required a manual approval? Is this down on last week? Did the process improvement we implemented deliver the benefits promised?
Transparent Pricing
For the trip back home to Liverpool this weekend we hired a car from Hertz. It had been booked long before my pleasant experience at Sixt so couldn't give them the benefit of my business two weeks in a row.
The car was fine (a 1.6 Ford Focus) - nothing special but it did the job and was pleasant enough. The interesting thing was how hire companies make money.
The Car Hire business is ferociously competitive - private customers will make their decision based on 1) price, 2) convenience of pick-up/drop-off location, 3) opening hours and 4) good/bad previous experiences of recommendations I imagine.
The hire companies have realised that price is where most people concentrate (hence the appeal of EasyCar's seemingly ridiculously low headline rates).
We chose to pay a "Location Service Charge" so we could return it to London City Airport last night (nowhere else was open on a Sunday and they charge extra for airports). In addition, the second driver and the CDW added to the cost.
So far, so expensive - but basically honest.... we wanted some extra services and we were charged for them. Well, the second one was sold to us... but it's their privilege to train and incent their staff to do this.
However, there are some other charges that are more underhand. A French couple in front of us last night were supremely upset when they realised they'd been charged extra because one of them was under 25. They didn't object to the charge in principle (even if the staff member did incorrectly tell them the charge was there "by law"). Their complaint was that the online booking didn't mention it... the price they were quoted was not the price they paid. Not good.
However, if they had been vigilant, they'd have spotted this earlier and could have made alternative arrangements had they wanted to.
The charge I was most impressed by was the "special offer" we were presented with at the counter. The sales pitch is essentially: "It's a pain filling the car up at the end of your journey... you're tired and it's the last thing on your mind. You can buy the fuel from us now... just return the car without filling it up and don't worry about it. What's more... our fuel is much less than the local garages (about 5p less per litre)".
What could be better than that?! Fantastic... where do I sign up?
Not so fast.... what you're about to pay for is a full tank. So, no matter how much you bring back, you're still charged for the full tank. I calculate that you'd have to return the car with less than 3 litres of fuel in the tank to come out on top with this deal. Far from reducing the stress at the end of the journey, it would have magnified it.... "Please let there be enough fuel to let me limp back to the airport!"
Tsk, tsk Hertz.
The car was fine (a 1.6 Ford Focus) - nothing special but it did the job and was pleasant enough. The interesting thing was how hire companies make money.
The Car Hire business is ferociously competitive - private customers will make their decision based on 1) price, 2) convenience of pick-up/drop-off location, 3) opening hours and 4) good/bad previous experiences of recommendations I imagine.
The hire companies have realised that price is where most people concentrate (hence the appeal of EasyCar's seemingly ridiculously low headline rates).
We chose to pay a "Location Service Charge" so we could return it to London City Airport last night (nowhere else was open on a Sunday and they charge extra for airports). In addition, the second driver and the CDW added to the cost.
So far, so expensive - but basically honest.... we wanted some extra services and we were charged for them. Well, the second one was sold to us... but it's their privilege to train and incent their staff to do this.
However, there are some other charges that are more underhand. A French couple in front of us last night were supremely upset when they realised they'd been charged extra because one of them was under 25. They didn't object to the charge in principle (even if the staff member did incorrectly tell them the charge was there "by law"). Their complaint was that the online booking didn't mention it... the price they were quoted was not the price they paid. Not good.
However, if they had been vigilant, they'd have spotted this earlier and could have made alternative arrangements had they wanted to.
The charge I was most impressed by was the "special offer" we were presented with at the counter. The sales pitch is essentially: "It's a pain filling the car up at the end of your journey... you're tired and it's the last thing on your mind. You can buy the fuel from us now... just return the car without filling it up and don't worry about it. What's more... our fuel is much less than the local garages (about 5p less per litre)".
What could be better than that?! Fantastic... where do I sign up?
Not so fast.... what you're about to pay for is a full tank. So, no matter how much you bring back, you're still charged for the full tank. I calculate that you'd have to return the car with less than 3 litres of fuel in the tank to come out on top with this deal. Far from reducing the stress at the end of the journey, it would have magnified it.... "Please let there be enough fuel to let me limp back to the airport!"
Tsk, tsk Hertz.
You're so nang
I was in the North West over the weekend, ostensibly to help look after my parents' house while they are away.
We went out drinking in Manchester with my sister and her friends on Saturday night and I was introduced to one who was a secondary school teacher.
As I always do in such situations, I begged to be told what the "latest" slang words are in use by "da kids".
I was particularly impressed by "Nang". It is an excellent word and I shall use it in future. I was even more impressed when I checked BBC News online this morning and there was an article about the cockney accent. Nang, my new favourite word, gets a namecheck. Sick!
We went out drinking in Manchester with my sister and her friends on Saturday night and I was introduced to one who was a secondary school teacher.
As I always do in such situations, I begged to be told what the "latest" slang words are in use by "da kids".
- Sick = Good
- Butters = Ugly
- Nang = Good
I was particularly impressed by "Nang". It is an excellent word and I shall use it in future. I was even more impressed when I checked BBC News online this morning and there was an article about the cockney accent. Nang, my new favourite word, gets a namecheck. Sick!
Friday, August 19, 2005
While we're on the subject of competition...
I had just observed that competition in software is a good thing when I came across this article about the UK Postal Service.
It made me think back to the days before the British Telephone service was privatised 22 years ago. I have just moved house and am getting my line rental from one company, calls from another and broadband from a third. Whilst still far from perfect (BT is still too powerful and too inefficient), the difference is staggering. I still remember my parents having to request BT for permission to install a second phone point in our house when I was a child. Truly we were privileged that the mighty public telephone company allowed us to have a telephone service at all!
On the assumption that our need for a postal service will remain, who knows what it will look like in 20 years if competition continues to increase?
It made me think back to the days before the British Telephone service was privatised 22 years ago. I have just moved house and am getting my line rental from one company, calls from another and broadband from a third. Whilst still far from perfect (BT is still too powerful and too inefficient), the difference is staggering. I still remember my parents having to request BT for permission to install a second phone point in our house when I was a child. Truly we were privileged that the mighty public telephone company allowed us to have a telephone service at all!
On the assumption that our need for a postal service will remain, who knows what it will look like in 20 years if competition continues to increase?
Apache to deliver an ESB?
The Register is reporting today that Apache will shortly announce an Enterprise Service Bus project.
IBM's Bobby Woolf has a good set of thoughts and links on the concept of an ESB here.
It will be interesting to see what Apache come up with here. The critical point about an ESB is that it's an architectural device. Sure - you may choose to implement it with a specific product but you should never view the implementation of an ESB as the installation of a piece of software - that is just the means to an end.
Successfully implementing an ESB strategy means changing the way you think about enterprise development... you no longer write your applications to be autonomous with respect to partner interactions. Instead, you rely on some other service - the bus - to mediate your interactions with other applications and systems. This simple and powerful concept is easy to describe but takes effort to implement.
Competition (if that is what this is - who knows?) is always a good thing. If this forces the rest of us to raise our game it can only be good for our clients and the market.
IBM's Bobby Woolf has a good set of thoughts and links on the concept of an ESB here.
It will be interesting to see what Apache come up with here. The critical point about an ESB is that it's an architectural device. Sure - you may choose to implement it with a specific product but you should never view the implementation of an ESB as the installation of a piece of software - that is just the means to an end.
Successfully implementing an ESB strategy means changing the way you think about enterprise development... you no longer write your applications to be autonomous with respect to partner interactions. Instead, you rely on some other service - the bus - to mediate your interactions with other applications and systems. This simple and powerful concept is easy to describe but takes effort to implement.
Competition (if that is what this is - who knows?) is always a good thing. If this forces the rest of us to raise our game it can only be good for our clients and the market.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
A happy customer
I hired a van from the Bow branch of Sixt at the weekend.
I was totally impressed. They gave me the cheapest quote, their service was friendly and efficient, they even talked me into paying for a reduced excess without going for the hard sell or making me feel I'd been ripped off. What's more: they gave me a lift back to the station when I dropped the van off at the end! The whole experience was of a quality operation working well. I'll definitely use them again.
I was totally impressed. They gave me the cheapest quote, their service was friendly and efficient, they even talked me into paying for a reduced excess without going for the hard sell or making me feel I'd been ripped off. What's more: they gave me a lift back to the station when I dropped the van off at the end! The whole experience was of a quality operation working well. I'll definitely use them again.
Friday, August 12, 2005
I did it
I finally stopped delaying and made my first "investment", such that it was.
I bought into a FTSE 100 tracker while I continue my research into where my money should really go. This should probably be the cue that professional investors have been waiting for.... when naifs such as me buy into something that has risen so much over the last two years, it surely must mark the peak.
Nevertheless, a paper profit of 35 (pence that is) just before market close is now a paper loss of 42p. I think I'll just leave it alone for a while.
I bought into a FTSE 100 tracker while I continue my research into where my money should really go. This should probably be the cue that professional investors have been waiting for.... when naifs such as me buy into something that has risen so much over the last two years, it surely must mark the peak.
Nevertheless, a paper profit of 35 (pence that is) just before market close is now a paper loss of 42p. I think I'll just leave it alone for a while.
Presumably there's a flaw here somewhere...
I was thinking last night about tax on savings. I'm not sure why. But I was.
In the UK, one can add £3000 per year into a special tax-free savings account (an ISA). (I'm only considering cash ISAs in this post).
I thought of a cunning way to get tax free interest on more than £3000 each year and I wonder if it would work.
Here's the scenario.
Imagine you have £6000 to invest in a savings account (pretend you're saving for an imminent purchase so investing in stocks is not suitable, etc, etc). Let's assume the annual rate is 5%. Before anybody tries to get too clever, let's keep this simple: if you put £1000 into the ISA, you'd get £50 in interest after a year. Let's also assume we pay UK higher rate tax (40%), that we're honest people and we inform the Inland Revenue of any taxable interest income - meaning that we're liable for 40% tax on non-ISA interest.
So, of the £6000, you would put £3000 into an ISA and £3000 into a regular savings account (which we also assume pays 5% but is liable for tax)
At the end of the year, you'd get £150 tax free from the ISA account and £90 after tax from the other account - a total of £240.
Here's the clever bit.
What's to stop a bank launching the following offer?
"Our cash ISA pays 10% interest tax free (but you must also invest £3000 with us in a 0% regular account".
So... you'd still be saving £6000 and the bank would still be paying the same amount in interest. The only difference is that the 10% interest on the £3000 (£300) would be given to you tax free since it was paid from the ISA.
In other words, you'd save £60 in tax.
This idea obviously scales up to the frankly amazing "our ISA pays 100% interest! (but you need to save £57000 in a 0% account to qualify" offer - which would save somebody with £60,000 £1,140 in tax. Superb!
There must be a flaw in this somewhere...
In the UK, one can add £3000 per year into a special tax-free savings account (an ISA). (I'm only considering cash ISAs in this post).
I thought of a cunning way to get tax free interest on more than £3000 each year and I wonder if it would work.
Here's the scenario.
Imagine you have £6000 to invest in a savings account (pretend you're saving for an imminent purchase so investing in stocks is not suitable, etc, etc). Let's assume the annual rate is 5%. Before anybody tries to get too clever, let's keep this simple: if you put £1000 into the ISA, you'd get £50 in interest after a year. Let's also assume we pay UK higher rate tax (40%), that we're honest people and we inform the Inland Revenue of any taxable interest income - meaning that we're liable for 40% tax on non-ISA interest.
So, of the £6000, you would put £3000 into an ISA and £3000 into a regular savings account (which we also assume pays 5% but is liable for tax)
At the end of the year, you'd get £150 tax free from the ISA account and £90 after tax from the other account - a total of £240.
Here's the clever bit.
What's to stop a bank launching the following offer?
"Our cash ISA pays 10% interest tax free (but you must also invest £3000 with us in a 0% regular account".
So... you'd still be saving £6000 and the bank would still be paying the same amount in interest. The only difference is that the 10% interest on the £3000 (£300) would be given to you tax free since it was paid from the ISA.
In other words, you'd save £60 in tax.
This idea obviously scales up to the frankly amazing "our ISA pays 100% interest! (but you need to save £57000 in a 0% account to qualify" offer - which would save somebody with £60,000 £1,140 in tax. Superb!
There must be a flaw in this somewhere...
Thursday, August 11, 2005
What were your previous jobs?
My comment-spamming-arch-enemy, Jon, asks an interesting question on his remarkable blog: "Careers... before this one"
I joined IBM straight from university - although I did have two jobs during this time.
My first job - which I obtained via a "Work Experience" programme when I was 16 was in the dispensary of a local pharmacy. When I look back on it, they demonstrated a remarkable degree of trust in me. I was responsible for taking patients' prescriptions (usually written in a doctor's unintelligible scrawl) and preparing the prescriptions (counting tablets, choosing which drug to dispense when the use of a generic name gave us an option, labelling, even sometimes giving advice over the phone or in person). It was absolutely fascinating and I toyed with the idea of studying pharmacy or pharmacology at university as a result.
This turned into a Saturday job and it was a useful source of income during the vacations from Uni. Although I didn't realise it at the time, it gave me a surprisingly deep understanding of the healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses which has been useful in my current role: on one engagement, in particular, I was able to overcome extreme initial hostility from a CIO by demonstrating my in-depth knowledge of his business.
My second job prior to IBM was a summer internship at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. I sometimes regret not taking up their offer to join them fulltime... I'd be a very well-paid accountant by now if I had. However, the work was really quite dull. This was, of course, primarily because I was a summer intern; we weren't going to get the best jobs. I also allowed mercenary instincts to drive me, however. The salary they offered seemed derisory at the time. I've since learned that "starting salary" is an unreliable predictor of "lifetime earnings" or even "earnings after five years". Oh well.... I won't make that mistake again!
Knowing how my mind works, however, I'd have probably done anything to switch from Audit into their consulting arm as soon as I joined and so would have ended up working for IBM anyway :-)
I joined IBM straight from university - although I did have two jobs during this time.
My first job - which I obtained via a "Work Experience" programme when I was 16 was in the dispensary of a local pharmacy. When I look back on it, they demonstrated a remarkable degree of trust in me. I was responsible for taking patients' prescriptions (usually written in a doctor's unintelligible scrawl) and preparing the prescriptions (counting tablets, choosing which drug to dispense when the use of a generic name gave us an option, labelling, even sometimes giving advice over the phone or in person). It was absolutely fascinating and I toyed with the idea of studying pharmacy or pharmacology at university as a result.
This turned into a Saturday job and it was a useful source of income during the vacations from Uni. Although I didn't realise it at the time, it gave me a surprisingly deep understanding of the healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses which has been useful in my current role: on one engagement, in particular, I was able to overcome extreme initial hostility from a CIO by demonstrating my in-depth knowledge of his business.
My second job prior to IBM was a summer internship at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. I sometimes regret not taking up their offer to join them fulltime... I'd be a very well-paid accountant by now if I had. However, the work was really quite dull. This was, of course, primarily because I was a summer intern; we weren't going to get the best jobs. I also allowed mercenary instincts to drive me, however. The salary they offered seemed derisory at the time. I've since learned that "starting salary" is an unreliable predictor of "lifetime earnings" or even "earnings after five years". Oh well.... I won't make that mistake again!
Knowing how my mind works, however, I'd have probably done anything to switch from Audit into their consulting arm as soon as I joined and so would have ended up working for IBM anyway :-)
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Sun and IBM's blogging policies compared
There's a short (but still interesting) comparison of IBM and Sun's blogging policies over here.
This was linked to from "PR Opinions." I don't remember exactly how that particular feed found itself in my reader but it does give a fascinating insight into the world of PR.
And, as my sister (who works in marketing) never ceases to remind me, Marketing and PR are different!!
This was linked to from "PR Opinions." I don't remember exactly how that particular feed found itself in my reader but it does give a fascinating insight into the world of PR.
And, as my sister (who works in marketing) never ceases to remind me, Marketing and PR are different!!
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Maybe I'm just a generally easy to stress person
It is well known to my friends that I suffer from "Economist Stress" (the uncomfortable feeling one gets on a Thursday afternoon when you know you won't have finished reading last week's Economist even though the new one will arrive in the mail on Friday morning).
I've now realised I also suffer from Investment Stress. I've created my trading account and loaded it with cash but now I can't bear to log in... every time I do, the money is just sitting there taunting me. "Why haven't you invested me yet? What's wrong with you?"
To make things worse, I know what to do and I know where to put it... I just can't seem to get round to it.
Example: as soon as BT announced they weren't going to award any contracts to Marconi for their "21st Century Network", it became obvious that Marconi would be a takeover target.
The bad news caused their stock to tank... (50% wiped off) yet there was an excellent chance of a white knight coming along and causing the price to shoot back up as people rushed back in. Yet.... I did nothing. Grrr.
Let's look at how much I could have made:
First, let's look at their six-month stock history:
That precipitous drop in May was when the bad news from BT was announced.
Where did the stock drop to? Around 270 is the most realistic lowest closing price (there's no chance I would have spotted the low). Where are they now? 305 and rising. That's a 13% rise in three months..... Grrr!!!
I should have the courage of my convictions.
I've now realised I also suffer from Investment Stress. I've created my trading account and loaded it with cash but now I can't bear to log in... every time I do, the money is just sitting there taunting me. "Why haven't you invested me yet? What's wrong with you?"
To make things worse, I know what to do and I know where to put it... I just can't seem to get round to it.
Example: as soon as BT announced they weren't going to award any contracts to Marconi for their "21st Century Network", it became obvious that Marconi would be a takeover target.
The bad news caused their stock to tank... (50% wiped off) yet there was an excellent chance of a white knight coming along and causing the price to shoot back up as people rushed back in. Yet.... I did nothing. Grrr.
Let's look at how much I could have made:
First, let's look at their six-month stock history:
That precipitous drop in May was when the bad news from BT was announced.
Where did the stock drop to? Around 270 is the most realistic lowest closing price (there's no chance I would have spotted the low). Where are they now? 305 and rising. That's a 13% rise in three months..... Grrr!!!
I should have the courage of my convictions.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Go West...
I'm in Burlingame, California this week at one of IBM's software development locations.
View from just next to the hotel..... taken in the 30 second gap between jets landing at SFO about half a mile away... It's surprisingly quiet though.
View from just next to the hotel..... taken in the 30 second gap between jets landing at SFO about half a mile away... It's surprisingly quiet though.
Guilty Pleasures
I must admit to secretly reading the Daily Telegraph online. I tell myself that it doesn't really count if I don't actually pay for it.
Armando Iannucci was on his usual inconsistent (but sometime very funny) form today
"I've always feared our arrival at that point in human history where Nasa runs out of things to do. I think it may have happened this week. We've just sent a shuttle into space whose main mission seems to have been to repair itself before coming back down. This surely signals the beginning of the end of mankind's quest for knowledge."
Armando Iannucci was on his usual inconsistent (but sometime very funny) form today
"I've always feared our arrival at that point in human history where Nasa runs out of things to do. I think it may have happened this week. We've just sent a shuttle into space whose main mission seems to have been to repair itself before coming back down. This surely signals the beginning of the end of mankind's quest for knowledge."
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Remember the M&Ms
Josh Ledgard from Microsoft has an interesting "5 Tips for Being Successful at Microsoft". I think it applies just as well to IBM.
The "ignore artificial boundaries" post was particularly relevant. In my current role, I am working on a project that requires me to have regular and in-depth contact with the development and test teams of a forhcoming product release. As a field consultant, it's unusual to have quite this much contact for so long. I have to keep fighting my natural instinct to leave them alone and let them get on with it.
I'd qualify point 5 ("talk to customers") a little, however.... yes: our developers should talk to customers as much as humanly possible.... but make sure you're talking to the right customers! The customers who come to the lab for a three day briefing with a delegation of 10 staff are important; but so are the small customers.... the ISVs.... the business partners and the hobbyists. Getting involved with mailing lists, message boards and local user groups is as phenomenally important as sitting in on those briefings.
The "ignore artificial boundaries" post was particularly relevant. In my current role, I am working on a project that requires me to have regular and in-depth contact with the development and test teams of a forhcoming product release. As a field consultant, it's unusual to have quite this much contact for so long. I have to keep fighting my natural instinct to leave them alone and let them get on with it.
I'd qualify point 5 ("talk to customers") a little, however.... yes: our developers should talk to customers as much as humanly possible.... but make sure you're talking to the right customers! The customers who come to the lab for a three day briefing with a delegation of 10 staff are important; but so are the small customers.... the ISVs.... the business partners and the hobbyists. Getting involved with mailing lists, message boards and local user groups is as phenomenally important as sitting in on those briefings.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Tired in San Francisco
Well... persistence pays off.
I called Virgin on Saturday morning on the off-chance that they had found a spare seat and - hurrah! - they had.
So, 20000 Flying Club points later I was happily upgraded into Upper Class.
The difference it made to the journey is hard to overstate. The flight was still long, tiring, boring, sticky, smelly and horrid but it was on the acceptable side of tolerable: I was able to sleep, I didn't have to queue for hours anywhere, I could relax in the lounge before departure, there was space to move in the cabin. It made all the difference. It made giving up my Sunday and disrupting my life slightly less painful.
Hurrah for Virgin - the new Upper Class Suite really is very, very good. I was a little disappointed by the service from the cabin crew (they were understaffed, however and they did explain this at the start) and I got the distinct impression that there was a hierarchy of passengers - which I was at the bottom of - but they were minor quibbles. It was much better than BA's club world and just reinforced my belief that Virgin are the best airline around.
One tip, though: 12K is worse than Seat Guru tells you. Not only do you have the beauty area in your face, you're in a corner where the cabin crew can't see you. I was almost missed out on at least two occasions.
So... I intend to make the most of my time out here. There are several colleagues I want to meet. The product I'm working on is going to be very big and I want to make sure I'm at the forefront of our efforts to make it a success. Being based in a different country and different timezone to the majority of the team means I need to shout twice as loud :-)
I'm not looking forward to my return trip later in August. It's a discounted economy ticket with no possibility of upgrade :-( Given that I'll be missing the UK's summer Bank Holiday in order to fly, I'm particularly upset by that. It's my own fault for booking so far in advance... I won't make that mistake again ;-)
I called Virgin on Saturday morning on the off-chance that they had found a spare seat and - hurrah! - they had.
So, 20000 Flying Club points later I was happily upgraded into Upper Class.
The difference it made to the journey is hard to overstate. The flight was still long, tiring, boring, sticky, smelly and horrid but it was on the acceptable side of tolerable: I was able to sleep, I didn't have to queue for hours anywhere, I could relax in the lounge before departure, there was space to move in the cabin. It made all the difference. It made giving up my Sunday and disrupting my life slightly less painful.
Hurrah for Virgin - the new Upper Class Suite really is very, very good. I was a little disappointed by the service from the cabin crew (they were understaffed, however and they did explain this at the start) and I got the distinct impression that there was a hierarchy of passengers - which I was at the bottom of - but they were minor quibbles. It was much better than BA's club world and just reinforced my belief that Virgin are the best airline around.
One tip, though: 12K is worse than Seat Guru tells you. Not only do you have the beauty area in your face, you're in a corner where the cabin crew can't see you. I was almost missed out on at least two occasions.
So... I intend to make the most of my time out here. There are several colleagues I want to meet. The product I'm working on is going to be very big and I want to make sure I'm at the forefront of our efforts to make it a success. Being based in a different country and different timezone to the majority of the team means I need to shout twice as loud :-)
I'm not looking forward to my return trip later in August. It's a discounted economy ticket with no possibility of upgrade :-( Given that I'll be missing the UK's summer Bank Holiday in order to fly, I'm particularly upset by that. It's my own fault for booking so far in advance... I won't make that mistake again ;-)
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