It’s quite entertaining to watch, while at the same time momentarily maddening. After being declined today for a simple loan (government backed, mind you) to do some efficiency and comfort upgrades to our home, I got to thinking about it a little more.

Aside from our personal immediate needs and wishes, an interesting dynamic shift in lending has started to have an even more interesting effect on many of us. The lending industry will argue, accurately, that many loans failed in the last 4-5 years as the market crashed as a result of lending money to people who were “high risk”.

Apparently, myself and most other middle class are high risk.

Funny – I don’t feel high risk. I actually feel like I’m a pretty good bet. Heck, I’d even be willing to argue my case in front of some bankers. Never defaulted on a loan, never been late on a payment, always pay loans off early – I’m a damn goldmine.

But depending on how you skew statistics (which I believe are naturally useless for much else than a sprite debate) you can easily argue that damn near everyone is ineligible for a loan. In fact, I suspect that by modern standards, most would be deemed inneligable for just about anything that could inconvenience someone in a position of wealth or power or having something else to loose of importance.

Where’s that spirit of taking a risk that the banking industry failed at in their backrooms? Can’t they just admit to their faults and start taking some chances on their customers for a change?

Perhaps they shouldn’t. Sounds like a failed PR stunt to me.

We are, after all risks. Known quantities.

So, then, I ask – If the US is to get off its ass and re-make that which has failed miserably, where is the money going to come from to finance what’s next?

Sure, it’s going to be lean in comparison to growth patterns of the past. One must negotiate good deals at every turn to be successful and have something truly unique.

The point is – we’re heading back into a time when in order to be successful, you do have to work hard and there will be no guarantees of fair payout. The concept of “fair” is being rewritten.

Wrong? Right?

Depends on who you ask. For those who are negatively impacted, you can guess their response.

To those holding all the cards (or cash in this case), it’s nothing to be terribly concerned about and should in fact be lauded as a necessary part of the economic correction.

Me? I find the whole situation to be maddening on grounds of the complicated nature of it all. Long gone are the days of obtaining credit, buying anything or making decisions without having to invest substantial effort in evaluating the situation. There are simply too many variables to consider now.

Perhaps we have too much information at our fingertips and we’re now expected to make the most of it. Without that information, we would make elementary mistakes of catastrophic consequence. Right?

Perhaps and perhaps not. With being informed comes greater responsibility.

Responsibility to not ask for too much?

Responsibility to consider a wider scope of consequences?

At what point are we allowed to live our lives again as simple human beings enjoying modern convenience? Wasn’t that the selling point of modernism?

It seems to delivered a bit short of expectations.

I simply would like some bankers to stop holding the cards so close and lend me what I need to make some minor upgrades to my home. It doesn’t need to be complicated. It’s quite elementary, wouldn’t you say?

I’ve been installing programs to a regular spinning D: drive now since day 1. While the thing boots and runs a few staples installed on the SSD really fast (i.e. Firefox, Office and iTunes for example) – other applications aren’t as speedy.

I also went ahead and enabled the AHCI on my SATA controller. I can’t really perceive a difference, but I’m sure it’s there.

All for now.

The problems we must grapple with as IT professionals aren’t immediately apparent to the users or even our business leaders. User expectations, support resources, enterprise scaling and time honored IT traditions are the barrels we’re staring down. It really is like staring down the barrel of a gun – after all, this is a computing revolution. We’re caught in the cross hairs of both the revolutionaries and the established industry.

User Expectations

Many users (perhaps 70% at my firm) expect IT folk to “fix everything” and somehow apply the time-tested Windows/Unix/Enterprise style support for the iDevice. It’s not entirely possible, however. A different approach is necessary. Each user must take it upon themselves to support their device and apps. That’s a tall order for many who find themselves long coddled by IT departments (mine is no exception here) who will do everything for the user when they call the helpdesk. We’ve set a stupid expectation that we are the wizards of everything consuming electricity.

We’ve set a stupid expectation that we are the wizards of everything consuming electricity.

I have visits from executives approaching me with their iDevices asking what seem like very legitimate helpdesk questions: Why is app X crashing? Why is my Calendar missing appointments? Why can’t I change the fonts on my icons? Most are frustrated with my explanations. I don’t have the debug tools or special knowledge bases to guide me to an answer. I have only the same anecdotes that they have to resolve their issues. That doesn’t happen in Windows-land too often.

Support Resources

This is perhaps one of the more profound differences between iDevices and our PC Domains. Users and IT folk alike are largely dependent on Apple for support. I’ve had only a small handful of issues with iPad that was something I could help with. 5% of questions I can help with. 25% of inquiries are caused by defective hardware. 70% of the time a reload of iOS is required.

I can reload the iOS just fine without Apple’s help, though the process of reloading passwords for every Tom, Dick and Harry application is frustrating to the users who have yet to embrace the art of password management.

Each user should manage their own support interactions directly with the Apple and app developers.

I sometimes send the more difficult users to the Genius bar for a 2nd opinion after I’ve determined the only recourse for an issue is reloading iOS. Why? Difficult users tend to kick and scream when told that their iOS must be reloaded (particularly if they’ve been through it before.) It’s perhaps one of the the most disruptive and (sadly) common troubleshooting steps with iDevices. The difference is that I may give in and waste hours trying to figure out an alternative to reloading the iOS out of fear for my employment. Genius Bar folks will kick you out of the store if you melt down into a puddle of demanding, irrational temper-tantrum child seeking an alternative fix (they did to me.)

Hardware issues, however, require a scheduled trip to the Genius bar. No drop ins allowed. Nobody is more important than someone else.

This is a new model that not everyone is yet comfortable with. Each user should manage their own support interactions directly with the Apple and app developers. Many don’t want to – they’ve always had IT do it for them. It’s disruptive for their established workflow. It would require them to learn yet another skill set they thought was fully delegated.

Enterprise Scaling

The Enterprise has built systems to make the most of their Domain-oriented IT investments. The iDevices are in direct defiance of this by design. They are user-centric in every way. Steve Jobs once said he wanted to bring a Liberal Arts perspective to computing. He succeeded. Enterprises must figure out how to embrace this technology that disrupts status quo. It’s nearly impossible using conventional tactics. The primary difference as I see it is that each user must personalize the iDevice with a suite of applications, multiple accounts and settings without the convenience of ‘defaults’ being set in advance.

Steve Jobs once said he wanted to bring a Liberal Arts perspective to computing. He succeeded.

Enterprises have long used the ‘defaults’ as a way to quickly mobilize workers. You can’t simply join an iPad to the domain, push apps and configuration defaults or take control of it at will.

IT folks like to complain about iDevice security. This is a ridiculous waste of time. First, Apple patches holes in iOS as it finds them. Second, there aren’t any formidable malware threats to the iOS (so long as you haven’t jailbroken you iDevice.) Third, there are tools from Apple for securing iDevices. Fourth, all apps can be individually secured by their developers if they choose to do so.

You shouldn’t have the iPads on your network – they don’t want to be there any more than you want them mingling with your corporate gateway routers.

On the whole security tip, if your network applications are so insecure that you are genuinely concerned about iPads on your network, don’t worry. You shouldn’t have the iPads on your network – they don’t want to be there any more than you want them mingling with your corporate gateway routers. If you don’t have it already, setup a basic WiFi network with Internet Access and let the iPad come through your firewall to get to apps. No brainer.

IT Traditions (aka the dirty little secret of IT)

Enterprises must support a large number of users, systems and storage bases. Doing so is far from trivial. Most IT shops have put systems in place to manage the scale and complexities. These systems work with traditional IT systems.

Here’s the secret: When you control the back-end, you control the endpoint too. Budgeting for expensive system, hardware upgrades, software updates and everything else is a known quantity when you lock down the endpoints to a specific configuration. IT delivers a full package solution to the company for an optimized cost. Hurray for low cost!

Better yet, there are plenty of 3rd Parties to beat up on when things don’t work right with traditional software/systems deployments. IT can spend their days (though few of us enjoy it) playing nanny to software and hardware vendors to fix issues.

You have zero pull with Apple. Apple bullies Google around. Don’t forget that.

Now, if your people are all using iDevices, you have Apple between you and the user – even if you develop your own iDevice app! You have zero pull with Apple. Apple bullies Google around. Don’t forget that. Furthermore, you don’t have clever workarounds with iDevices, you can’t predict what Apple is going to do in the next iOS upgrade, you don’t know what will break or change, and to top it all off – most of us don’t get pre-release to test out in advance. Unlike Windows, when a new iOS upgrade is out, users just upgrade. No planning, no regression testing, no user acceptance validation.

Oh, the horror!

Or is it? Is it really that important? Maybe the answer to all woes is to stop caring so much about what we don’t have control over and figure out instead how to leverage it to bring value to the organization. It’s not perfect, but when is a revolution perfect at the start?

To each their own

Each company will draw their own line in the sand on the iDevice issue. Individuals who embrace the Apple revolution will likely be just fine. They aren’t losing sleep, they’re instead dreaming ways to solve personal workflow issues X, Y and Z that IT has neglected for years.

Sadly, the Legacy IT coffin is running out of space for additional nails.

Those who are forced into the revolution will bitch, moan, complain and throw things. That includes not just IT people, but old-school end users as well. It’s a reversal of who’s in charge of the technology “push”. Many legacy IT folks who hate to be told what to do find iDevices appalling and do everything to avoid their proliferation. Sadly, the Legacy IT coffin is running out of space for additional nails. Even the most staunch of enterprises have already started making baby steps in the direction of the Apple revolution.

I’m of the mind to encourage the revolutionaries. They are better at trying things out and deciding if it works or not. They are also the future leaders of the companies we work at today or will be working at tomorrow. Sure, some ground rules are necessary, but don’t need to be overly constrictive.

IT has always been a profession charged with navigating new technology for the organization. Some of us have become overwhelmed, complacent or lazy – leaning on our systems of control as ways to prevent our users from doing things that will cause us more work.

It’s time to do our jobs again.

Go buy an iPad (or two) and get creative. Everyone else is.

Demonstrations downtown thoroughly anger and upset building owners, business owners and employees of downtown businesses. Rare is it that the principals of the protests are unpopular with these individuals, in fact – most are very supportive (except for perhaps political hot button issues like Abortion). What becomes very frustrating to downtown workers and business owners is how they become trapped downtown when streets get blocked or police activity has streets clogged.The noise also creates a difficult environment to work in and many businesses shut down for the day.

The good news is that Occupy Portland organizers are communicating to everyone who participates to “Keep Feet out of the Street”. That is, don’t march on the streets and block traffic – that’s a large part of what has gotten demonstrators in other cities (Seattle, LA, New York) arrested and in trouble. It will, however, create problems for downtown workers who need to get home trying to traverse the sidewalks.

Part of why protests and demonstrations are successful is that they force the average person working in that downtown setting to take notice. I’m not the type of person who cares to get involved with these sort of things directly. I have little interest in taking the types of risks that these demonstrators take. They run the risk of clashing with an already corrupt police organization – one that has nearly zero accountability for it’s poor decisions, actions and injustices to citizens.

Call me a wuss or a pushover, but there are things in my life that are more important: my health, freedom, ability to pay my mortgage and spend time with my family. I applaud everyone who will be out there today putting themselves in (potentially, hopefully unlikely) harms way. I will be at home and not in my usual downtown office, because I’m recovering from a cold and not because I’m trying to avoid the demonstration.

Best of luck to everyone. Keep your head on straight.

Gregster

Most of us got into technology because we loved something about it. For some, the thought of coding day in and day out was exciting – solving needs with instructions in a language few knew. Others found solace in their troubleshooting Tech-Fu. 5 minutes with a computer and they knew what was wrong, eliciting uncanny responses from onlookers. There were even some that saw the complexity of managing a group of technology professionals and got excited about the size of the Gannt charts they would need for a particular project.

It was 1995. I was working in my dad’s shop building computers, installing software and running to wholesalers to pick orders in the growing “Silicon Forest” here in the Portland area. Life couldn’t be better. I had just started as a Senior in High school, had my own cell phone and car. I made enough money working for dad that I could afford to buy new computer components every few months to try out the latest technology. I was both the envy of my peers and the nightmare of my foes at school. Those who saw where technology was going sought my opinion, those who were afraid would attempt to ridicule me.

My days of just turning screwdrivers, swapping discs and making parts runs would be short lived. My father placed me in charge of the shop just before I was about to graduate. At the time, it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Now, he came to me asking for help and expected me to get things done without much help. No problem.

Little did I know I was being prepared for a career in Technology Management. My dad knew something I didn’t. Even with all the Tech-Fu in the world, each of us needs to know how to manage. At the very least, we need to have a clear sense of how to manage our own time, tasks and projects. Ideally, we should be able to manage a few people doing the same.

Many technology professionals today come from one of two paths – either a once strictly business/management path or from a once strictly technology path.

With increased dependence on technology in almost every line of business, I’ve watched the genesis of business matters making their merry way into our daily lives as technical professionals. The days of not understanding the business you’re supporting are over. Each and everyone in the technology department must be masters of their technology and the processes they support.

Early professionals required to have these skills were called CIO’s. Most companies rightly pulled these individuals from leadership ranks rather than technical ranks. Companies who had a CIO knew that individual needed to have some technical skills, but mostly business skills. This person didn’t do any hands on with the technology. Instead, they managed the group of people who did know everything about it. All was well for some time.

Then something terrible happened: The economy burst like a Zeppelin flying through a firestorm. 

Panic set in. Some companies cut tech’s. Some cut suits. Some cut both.

There’s an old saying in business that a good owner has control over their business. They know exactly what each and every employee does. An even better owner could step into any role and do the job if necessary.

That became less possible when we started hiring highly technical people managed by non-technical CIO’s. If a coder left, so did all of the knowledge and expertise. Nobody else in the organization could pick up the pieces. Management had long gotten away with delegating anything even moderately technical to someone else. Some else who was no longer an employee now.

As the dust started to settle, something curious happened. Companies started looking for really talented tech people with CIO’ish skills too. Job descriptions demanded CCNA and MCP certs along side a Business degree or 10 years experience managing x number people.

What just happened? Did the technical and managerial get squished into one, hybrid role?

It sure did. It was in the making already.

Put aside your prejudice of the practice. This change is overdue. Gone are the days of strictly technical roles in business. You need both or you won’t survive long.

Today, companies need people who can solve their technology details and manage the large scale ERP upgrades. They need people who understand how to train employees successfully in a way that’s relevant to their roles one day and troubleshoot IP stack issues the next. They in fact need a new generation of technology professionals that got their A+ and PMP. Manage a group of people and write some code, too.

So what about the technology specialists? They’re still out there, and they are in demand. Knowing Microsoft Sharepoint isn’t a bad focus to have. There’s still demand for it. Same too with many ERP systems and programming languages. The trouble is, once they are done with a particular project or assignment, there’s nothing left for them to do.

My point is simple: Everyone needs to start diversifying their portfolio and willing to work hard for less. Things aren’t going to change. We’re starting to come face to face with the consequences of a bubble that was long overdue to pop.

If I were a High School Senior today looking for a direction, I would get my ass into Business School and plan to spend the next 8 years or so going to school and studying every technology being used by mainstream businesses today. Why 8 years? You’ll need an MBA and probably a second or third degree in something that you find interesting. Yes, you’ll be “overqualified” by yesterday’s standards. You’ll be in a lot of debt, too, unless you get scholarships or are fortunate enough to have a trust fund or two lying around for the cause.

Just remember that every job you apply for, you need a different resume. You must only put forth the credentials, experience and education that are relevant to the role. Leave everything else out. Let your employer learn of your value AFTER you start working for them and are deemed successful in their eyes.

You will be competing with people from all over the world for jobs that used to be domestic, but are now entirely international in their nature. Other countries such as India, China and even Russia have had a long time to already realize everything I have written here and get to work at it. Your skill set will need to be as deep as it is wide.

Bored? Not me. I'm a student and a workaholic!

One of the things I love about being a full time student while working full time is that I have no excuse to be “bored”. Yep – none at all. I get to have a list of to-do’s that is perpetual.

So how is it then, after the homework is done, the day at the office is over and I have nothing pressing to do that I find myself feeling bored?

Is it procrastination? Is it laziness?

No – it’s burnout. Yep, plain and simple burnout. After a day of doing things I must do, I’m ready to do something I don’t need to do. That usually involves either socializing and patronizing the local pub.

Obviously, that’s not something that I can continue to do forever. After all, I’ve got a child on the way.

So, what does someone who’s burned out do for a hobby?It has to be easy, low or no commitment, fun, inexpensive, easy and have absolutely no ties to work or school.

Gregster, you’re a picky bastard, you know?

Yep, I know. I’m pretty picky. Here’s what I’ve rejected thus far:

Checkers

God, I am sick of checkers. I’ve already figured out the ultimate strategy in the Checkers game on my iPhone that lets me win every damn time on the “Hardest” setting. Next!

Chess

Too difficult. NEXT!

Swimming

Nice, but I don’t fancy spending $5 every time I want to go up to the community pool here in the neighborhood. Also, swimming is almost too difficult.

Brew Beer

Eh, I can buy beer at the POWER ZONE (i.e. the mini market up the street).

Poker

Too easy to lose money. I’m not that great at it. I hate losing.

Sleeping

Boring.

I guess I’m shit out of luck for a good burnout hobby.

I’m open to suggestions, Internet.

Gregster

Consensus.

Awful word, huh? That word makes my skin crawl. It spews notions of passive aggressive liberal principals of mindless Kum-Ba-Yah-commune-building-campfire-kool-aid-drinking-insanity. Not that I have anything wrong with liberals. I’ve been accused on more than one occasion to perpetuate liberal agendas. How often are consensus driven ideas drilled into your skull? A lot, I’m guessing. Boss says, “Client X doesn’t like iPhones. Don’t talk about iPhones in front of client X. You know what, let’s be safe and not talk about iPhones in front of any client that doesn’t already have them.” Too often, we start to let this shape our worldview negatively and begin to actually believe the group think that’s taking place in our organizations. Why? When did we become wussies? Your high school bully would have a freaking hay day with your pathetic ass today.

Let’s look at another word I don’t like.

Moderation.

How many people have heard someone say, “All things in Moderation, including Moderation.” How many times have I said that? Doesn’t that seem stupid to you? I hate advice. I give people too  much of it. People give me too much of it. Why do we embrace this concept that says you can’t do things that probably aren’t good for you if you do it too much, but if you do it a little bit, it’s okay? Why? Moderation to me is what makes us victims of our own hedonism. Think about that for a second. Wait, did he just call me a Hedonist? That SOB. Look, last I checked, unless you are wearing some sort of great human costume, you’re no Romulan. We are beings of pleasure seeking. Moderation is the mental chastity belt of humanity. Moderation. Don’t like it.

Here’s another one I don’t like.

Limitless.

I want to love this word in the very depths of my being. What’s not to love? Limitless – no boundaries. Your opportunities are limitless. Do whatever you please. Be the degenerate you want to be. When you tell someone that their options are “Limitless”, you are a damn liar. You know as well as any one else that there are limits. Gravity, Politics, Taxes, Social Norms, whatever. Limitless is a concept that allows us to forever postulate the what if and never solidify an opinion about something. College taught me a few things and continues to teach me a few things. You can’t take yourself seriously if you don’t start to draw some conclusions. Come up with an idea within the limits you or someone or nature or whatever has imposed on you. Embrace that idea. Experience the accomplishment.

Okay, we’ve talked about 3 words I don’t like. So negative, so negative. Lets move on to words I do like.

Ownership.

That word makes me happy. It implies responsibility, invisible hand market forces, wealth, control and destiny shaping. I know, you want what I’m smoking, right? When was the last time you actually owned something? Your house probably has a mortgage that’s more than it’s worth. You don’t own that. Your kids? You don’t own them. They own you, and don’t forget it. Your ideas? Yes, your ideas. Those are yours. Do you ever just sit there and think about your ideas and drift off into la-la land. I mean, really drift. The phone’s ringing, wife’s yelling, cars crashing outside and you are just imaging the world according to your ideas. Perfectly sober and lucid human beings have ideas, dreams, concepts – whatever. We dwell and imagine. We own that. Nobody can take that away from us. We own our ideas.

Here’s another one I like.

Passion.

When your boss comes to you and tells you that we need to work out a deal that is “amicable for everyone”, do you really get excited about that? Human beings are selfish creatures. We don’t care about anyone else until we’re conditioned to do so or have some sort of paternal/maternal instinct kick in. We are passionate creatures by nature, driven by that which makes us happy. Thousands of years of philosophy keeps coming to this conclusion over and over again. Maybe your passion is playing video games until 4 in the morning or trying every flavor of sorbet until you’ve found your favorite. We have passion for something.

Last word.

Humility.

I eat my words. A lot. I’ll probably be eating my words not too long from now. Greg, you idiot, what does any of this have to do with anything? Humility. Does anyone else get a little chill at this word? This is one of those words that I think we all fear a little bit. There’s something in our core that tells us that having Humility is admitting to failure. Why? Why is being honest a failure? Where did we go so wrong? Here’s how I see Humility. I equate it to growth. New information is passed to us constantly. We grow. We change our views on things. Roll with it. Roll with others when they backtrack. Learn from their backtracking. Respect it.

Vision.

What defines who we are? Did anyone ever say, ‘Gee, that Greg guy sure is good at driving consensus, knows what moderation is all about and has a real sense of limitlessness – he must be a visionary!‘ No, of course not! That’s how you describe someone who doesn’t care, wants to be under the radar and live with the delusion that they can do anything.

Ownership. Passion. Humility.

These are the values of a person who has Vision. A person who takes risks. Someone who gets out of bed in the morning and can’t wait to get to work on their passion. Someone who takes responsibility for fulfilling their dreams. Someone who can laugh and learn from their failures.

Visions are Owned

You can’t have a vision unless you own it. If your ‘vision’ is a result of succumbing to the opine of your peers and partners, it’s not your vision. Stop calling it yours. Stop calling it a vision. Vision is owned and operated by you. Just you. You can lead others to support your vision, even ‘see’ your vision. But you cannot transfer ownership of it. It lives in you. You made it, you either give it life or you sentence it to death.

Isn’t it a beautiful thing? It’s yours, after all. Now run with it.

In the past, this machine had Windows 2003R2 (32-bit) which didn’t take advantage of the 64-bit architecture and certainly couldn’t take advantage of the additional 4GB of memory.

Wait – Dual Quad Core Xeons? Can we say “VMWare Host”? Yes We can.

What was once a slow and painful to use 32-bit server with a RAID 5 is getting a makeover.

RAID 0+1, the latest firmware updates, VMWare 4.1 Update 1 – oh yeah. Sure, it’s only going to run a small handful of over-provisioned VM’s, but it’s all we need. In time, we’ll upgrade the memory and it can do more (when it’s needed).

Why not RAID 5? Performance. You need IOPS in a VM environment. That means more spindles, less storage space.

Also, with VMWare, I can add iSCSI targets to the hypervisor layer – even boot VM’s off of it. Cool, huh? I’ll be attaching a little Netgear ReadyNAS unit with about 3TB of usable space.

This server would surely have found it’s way into the “unused” pile and eventually pushed out the door to recycling without this re-lifing.