Category: Uncategorized

If you thought this was bad, SAP strives to exceed its previous level of obsfucation.
Nicholas Carr quotes from the transcripts at the Boston SAP Sapphire conference.

Let’s look through this thing. Remember we had the fridge. We decided to retire the fridge. We’re going to talk about a new metaphor from now on. What is NetWeaver and how does the whole thing come together? We talk about what we call the body of information. If you think about how the body of information is constructed, there are multiple pieces in there. It’s the mirror, if you want, of what we had with the fridge. The only difference from the fridge is that all the pieces have to work together. The face is the portal. If you think about the brain behind the face, there are two halves. The analytics, the structured side; knowledge management, the unstructured side. The brain is critical not only for storing information but for processing. Anything that comes through the brain gets context. Through this brain, and what’s supporting it, is probably the backbone of your body of information: master data management. If you don’t have master data management, your body may be there, but it may not be able to move. And that’s very critical to understand. Every information that goes through, every transaction that goes through, at some point in time touches master data, and if you don’t have a coherent master data strategy and a coherent master data management server, you will not get an agile body. MDM is one of the biggest things that is happening right now in NetWeaver. Through the backbone, you get a lot of events. The events contextualize themselves through master data into the brain and then get back and thrown into the rest of your body. That network is like your nerve system.

Brain. Melting. I. Must. Follow. Blindly.
Via Chris Selland

My copy of Business Week came today, and promptly went in the trash. It contained a scent sample, and made the whole house curl up their noses.
And then, when I went to their site to express my displeasure, and was greeted with this.

TODAY IS MAY 21, 2005!
Business Week: please get your act together.

Tyme hits for six with this posting about how Scoble is unique in the world of corporate blogging.
I have to agree with her on her opinion. In discussing the possibility of establishing a blog at our company, the conversation between myself and the other contributor came down to one final point: could our company handle the content that is necessary to make a corporate blog work?
In most companies, blogging about work, even if you don’t talk about futures, financial, and other company confidential information, would most likely get you removed from your desk by a large security person.
And before I get flamed, we all know it’s true. Companies, despite lip-service to the contrary, don’t like transparency, because they cannot control the message.
As an example, if the corporate commandos at Microsoft discover who Mini-Microsoft is, he will be looking for a new job. I have no doubt about that.
So, Scoble, be glad you are unique. Live in the moment. But keep your resume up to date, because somedy you will need it.

Travis: play with this beast!
Via Travis Smith’s Flickr Stream

Ok, Ricky has come up with the coolest little GTD/iBook hack. [here]
This is astounding. Very simple. Very elegant. Extremely useful.
Ricky, I salute you!

In his usual eloquent way, Mini-Microsoft sums up the hiring of new dev folks at Microsoft:

# High quality people don’t want to work for Microsoft.
# Low quality people are swelling our interview loops to the degree I’m really worried some of them are slopping up on deck and joining the crew.
# The good quality people we do give offers to get hired elsewhere for much better pay (just pay, not benefits – I don’t think anyone on this green earth can do much better than Microsoft’s benefits).
# Some colleges produce graduates who don’t know what a pointer is let alone how to use one.
# H1B visas aren’t going to be unfettered anytime soon.

Why does this give me concern for the state of Longhorn and Office 12?

Gates: ‘Information overload’ is overblown
Of course it is, Bill! We all have a staff of 50,000 people to do our bidding so that we can sit back and dream up visionary statements like this.
Bill, thanks to Outlook and Exchange, no one can be free of work at anytime! With information transferred to Mobile devices, we can now forward vital e-mails with FYI to anyone in the world!
Long live productivity! Long live technology slavery!
I can’t believe Gates is so far removed from the reality of what his products have unleashed. Maybe it’s time to have a Send Bill Gates to Work Day!
And, did I mention that Gates says that Office 12 will solve everything? Or was that Word 6.0?

Jeremy Wright’s best friend, Will, succumbed to cancer today. [here]
Jeremy, my thoughts are with you.

Over the last few days, there has been the start of Bzzzzz around the sneak peeks people are getting into the new Office 12 for Windows.
I haven’t read them. I don’t care. Guess I am a dinosaur.
On my work laptop, I am very happy with Office 11 (2003). My wife is very happy with Office 10 (2000) on machine.
Who is Office 12 aimed at? Enterprises are going WTF? Another *%^&%%$&% upgrade that is going to cause things to break and new security holes to appear, due to the new complexities that have not been completely tested?
Consumers? Most home users are likely to say that Ofice 97/2000/XP/2003 work fine for them, so why should they shell out a couple of hundred bucks for an upgrade?
I have an idea that will revolutionize the entire Microsoft Office marketing campaign, and put the fear into the entire marketplace.
Give away a LESS complicated, stripped down version “stock” version of Office 12 to anyone who wants it. Should be able to fit it into something like the 60-80 MB that OpenOffice fits into.
That’s right. I have spoken the heresy. The basic Office 12 should be given away for free. If you need/want more advanced connectors/translators/add-ons, they can be purchased and downloaded online for modular prices ($9.95, $19.95, etc).
Why will Microsoft still make gobs of money of this method? Because the core development work for Office 12 is complete. Has been complete for maybe a decade, but at least 6-7 years.
If Microsoft doesn’t consider this free download model, Office 12 will be greeted with the response it deserves from the basic consumers and IT professionals alike: WHO CARES?
OFFICE 12 LINK-O-RAMA!
Office 12 to ease lines of communication | CNET News.com
Office 12 and the New World of Work
Office 12 release confirmed for next year
Office 12 release confirmed for next year
Update: Microsoft reveals more details on ‘Office 12’

Sarah Adams submitted the first listerner contributed essay to the NPR series, This I Believe. Be Cool to the Pizza Dude captures a very considered, zen-like appreciation for life, wrapped around the idea that basic human respect and dignity arises from being good, and doing good, to all people.
Thanks Sarah.
Via Moleskinerie