Data … it’s not (meant to be) a dirty word

Part of my role these days is trying to gather, analyse and present data to better manage our group and in turn provide greater value to the organisation. This is often frustrating. There are certain data elements that I expected to already be in place – not just collected, but collated and correlated as well. […]

I still don’t really understand what CLOUD is and WHY it is a game changer.

So, without revealing names or confidentialities, I had a contact reach out to me with this query, and so, I though that maybe, just maybe, there may be others who may be in a similar position. So, hopefully this helps and doesn’t obfuscate with the curse of knowledge. Q: I’m trying to get my head […]

6m3 of red gum ain’t the only heavy load.

I haven’t been around the interwebs of late. Life has been dense with activity in all aspects of my life. On the work front, I have taken on a new role. Not quite a promotion, and not really a sidewise step, so I’m going to call it a diagonal slide. Unlike the project gigs with…

post weekend post

So, the weekend was a busy one. The Ag Show side: Although initially there for the range of lectures, I did spend. A lot. Between the lectures on Friday, I went walking around the show and talking to a few different suppliers, consultants and vendors of all things great and sundry. This resulted in the…

the end of those Mayan days

Or "2012, a review" So, here we are again. Another year passes. Another year commences. I haven't been around the internets lately.Time is a harsh mistress, not as harsh as Ingrid, but pretty close. Between work, farm and general day to day living, I have had to schedule arse-scratching sessions months in advance and with a mobile phone that is dying a slow death, I don't have those "dead times" to recover with social media like I used to. The farm is a slow but sure task master. We had organised for 4,000 tree saplings to be planted out across the property. We paid for the plants, we got tree guards, we got bamboo stakes, we built a basic temporary fence and we planted ... and the cows ignored the fences, walked right through them and ate the plants! Not just the plants, but the super-dooper, organic, self-breakdown composting tree guards! They LIKE THE TASTE! We had to practically pull them out of their mouths! Therefore, we have had to re-make the fence-lines, set up a small utility shed to store fencing equipment and batteries for a 12v system so we can also install an electric fence wire along the fence-lines we have completed. All of that extra work has come at a cost though, and not just parts and labour either. The extended timelines, along with said cows, a mob of Kangaroos and a rabbit population that will not stay under control have all nibbled away at the trees ... and if that wasn't nearly enough, after a couple of wet La Nina years, we happened to plant right in the middle of the driest spring in over 70 years (since world war 2!) so, well, long-story-made-short, less than ten percent of the plants that have survived are definitely the fittest. That's been a real kick in the guts. But, hey, lessons have been learnt ... along with the unintended reset, new plans to start future proofing the farm for droughts are in motion that include reshaping the earth tank dam as well as new techniques for populating the wildlife corridor to be restarted ... oh, and we make a great farm fences now :) We ended up buying a 4WD as well, a 1998 Pajero. We needed something to get up and down the property and to cart things. So, I finally wore Ingrid down and she gave in enough to let me spend the money. But, as you know, we can't possibly have a new toy and not spend more money on making it better, right? So, I've been getting things to add to it - extra battery, LED work light, had dad help me make a new roof rack ... well, you get the idea. I failed to set enough time aside to complete the diploma of agronomy, and while I know I can finalise the assessments off in practically no time, I have had precious far too little of that to set aside to the task. Ingrid turned 40 this year as well. She is taking it pretty good. I think she wears it very nicely too. I bought her a brand new, super-dooper, top of the line all bells and whistles computer because she's been wanting one for a while. Wouldn't you know it, the game she wanted it for, is not compatible with the new Windows OS. So, I bought a software package called vmware to let the old version of windows run at the same time as the new version ... and the game didn't like the drivers! So then I had to start trying to find device drivers for the new hardware that would be supported by Windows XP (which is the one OS we know the game will work under ... ) but you know, most places don't make drivers for a ten year old operating system ... I should have just bought her a pony! On the family front, Ingrid's sister died mid-year, my sister has gone mad and declared world war three on the family, we now live less than five minutes from my mum and dad - which means free dinners ... but also means some "everybody loves raymond" type moments - and the outlaws have become even more recluse, refusing to leave their place for anywhere more than a ten kilometer radius of their house. Health has been another roller coaster ride year, starting off with a return of the cancer scare (which thankfully wasn't) and as always, the depression, apnea, the weight and my bad back were all vying for attention ... But overall, I am ok, so am happy with what I have (and don't). The workplace became a "work is work" kind of place (but now with extra redundancy threats!) with much of the people focus and soul o the corporation ripped out in a global attempt to restructure and recover and the team is on an enforced recertification path as part of that process. At least I still am in the game though. With no additional finances (nor decreases in expenditures) it also means no new house building on the farm yet, and since mortgages keep existing and redundancy threats are far too real, no additional loads are being risked. So ... That's it. Another year in review.

[Reposted from xntrek]

distress, depress, duress, derail, digress ...

We all have a form of stress.

The usual workplace performance or timeline based anxieties aside, the pressures of obligations and commitments, family and friends, expectations and aspirations can all lead to levels of pressure that release the cortisol hormone and subject us to differing levels of mental and physical debilitation that we define as suffering from stress.

Of all the factors, though, I think financial based pressure is the one that is felt most acutely. True alleviation is oft found via lengthy periods of time, whilst short term solutions are often delaying tactics that can (and usually do) cause greater duress at a later stage. So, when the first semblance of financial distress is seen on the horizon, the leap to action is immediate and the tactics required to avert the disaster are deployed.

Under the usual circumstances, that would be the end of it and life returns to some form of normalcy soon thereafter. However, sometimes life throws you far more lemons than a normal lemonade stand can cope with, and try as you might, all you end up with is gallons of lemonade which you are now bathing in and that is stinging you eyes.

The GFC didn't really hit Australia ... no need for the economic lesson, suffice to say that Australians were generally cushioned and for most of corporate Australia, it was a convenient excuse to perform some margin fattening a la cost cutting. However, as mentioned, sometimes the cushion collapses and the effects from the affectation are delayed ... which is what has been occurring for the last ten months.

I mention this, for as I started juicing my own personally delivered batch of lifelemons(tm) the economic lemons started coming through and that meant a collapsing educational industry, a restructuring primary resource industry, a downsizing of the outsource and consulting aspects of the IT industry all as the corporation I work for discovers a black hole in the books and a billion dollar "challenge" to restructure and "save" the corporation. So the corporate lemons started flowing with reductions of benefits, changes in policies and, dare I even need to mention it, redundancies across the board.

So, what to do?

Whilst you consider the viability of looking for alternate work (and all the requirements of hunting, interviewing, securing and then re-proving your worth from scratch once again) the lemonade has no yet finished bubbling and at the same time you are trying not to react to the barbs from the wire canoe that is you've been body-hired out to a client, even though that very fact means you are spared the redundancy sniper scope ... So mixing it into a concentrate and make a cake, because you now have to place your new house project on hold, your farm plans are restricted, the tree planting project is now jeopardised and cut to a third of the original plan, your tenants are behind in payments and a mob of Roos have just destroyed two months of work and three fence lines.

The frosting comes in the form of your sibling declaring world war three on the family, a years worth of diploma homework still needing to be completed (in under a month now!), the need to redraw business plans and budgets for the farm, help out ageing parents and outlaws, all whilst trying not to drown in the lemonade or let it all just crush your spirit and drag you down into the dark and acidic depths of depression that you are all too familiar with. All of this, my dear friends, is to say that I have had a huge amount on my plate, and I simply have not had the time, let alone the energy, to do much more than squeezing lemons ... which is why I have been off the ether waves and unreachable by so many. Though the few that reached out, may I say, lit up my mood in indescribable ways, so even if I have not had the opportunity to reply yet, know that the act of reaching out does a world of good to the recipient.

So ... My health is (mostly) stable, my weight is not, cortisol hormone levels reads like a seismic graph and arse scratching sessions are fewer and further between.

All said and done, I will be ok. I am ok.

And lest it was not obvious, I miss you all ... desperately so.

[Reposted from xntrek]

Truthful "All of the stress" Tuesday

I am on the verge of just blowing up. 

Truthful "All of the stress" Tuesday

I am on the verge of just blowing up. 

Truthful "All of the stress" Tuesday tag:stress, vent, tt, tears, fears,

I am on the verge of just blowing up. 

Apropos the last post ...

W.E. Gutman - Nocturnes: Tales from the Dreamtime

[Reposted from xntrek]

Apropos the last post ...

- W.E. Gutman, Nocturnes: Tales from the Dreamtime.

[Reposted from xntrek]

Why do you work?

A conversation with a friend and colleague today highlighted this question. 

We were discussing some of the organisational, financial and policy changes going through the company and I made a commonly cynical and flippant remark of "well, I'm here because my mortgages need me to be" to which he replied "If I was the owner of the company or indeed your manager, I wouldnot be happy with that answer"

On or off: the arguments over circumcision

While heading into work this morning, my partner had the radio tuned to 101.1FM and the presentors were talking about the topic for the "Can of Worms" episode this evening - "is it ok to circumcise your son?"

As part of the session, they had Guy Cox, Ph.D. on the show to talk about the health benefits of the procedure. The spiel he gave was interesting, not because of the information, but because he used nothing but the fallacious method of presenting the exceptions as the rule arguments as support.

Further, his arguments stem from an obvious case of bias confirmation as many of the citations he provided were from research that has shown to be flawed or otherwise since been disproven.

As far as I am concerned, , whether performed on a male or female, circumcision is mutilation. Period.

I never understood the religious view on it. If people are made in God's own image, then was the foreskin a mistake? If it is made in the image of god, then wouldn't cutting it off be succinct to sacrilage? 

However, I'm not religious, so I believe it is an evolutionary adaptation. Evolution created the foreskin for a reason. A reason that exists in most mammals and one that is not yet a sign of vestigal use. Some have used the appendix as a analogy for this argument, but unlike the appendix, the foreskin has not shrunk to a shadow of its former glory, nor does it lie there dormant. Thus claiming it is useless is also fallacious.

I wish people would get better informed of the realities of circumcision rather than allow old religious arguments, a desire to not be wrong about past decisions or the allure of business dollars to affect their judgements. Get informed about what the foreskin is there for (http://skinfore.blogspot.com.au/?zx=a2b3a2a56c0dfe45) and how it affects those that have circumcisions done (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/myths-about-circu... before feeling free to wax lyrical and spread further disinformation and opinions.

If nothing else, you may be better informed and you can at least be hoinest with yourself about your decisions rather than seeking to support them with false proofs and rhetoric.

[Reposted from xntrek]

I'm guilty of it ...

Sometimes people say or do things without thinking.

This can be due to a hundred different things … and for a hundred different reasons. It may come from a negative space … or from a positive space … but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t done without thinking.

I do it the most with my Mrs … but with a lot of friends in general, I find. 

I jump in with kind words.

I offer a different view, pampering, protection, assistance … “solutions”

I forget that people need to work that out themselves and that they did not ask for any of that …

I need to remember to just listen and acknowledge them.

Only offering anything else after they ask**.

It’s harder to do than say.

Even if you just want everyone to truly happy … maybe we need to let them find the sunshine by walking out of their own fire swamps.

 

--

* I wrote this on another blog about a week ago, but wanted to put it elsewhere for posterity and to remind myself

**As someone mentioned, "I would feel I wasn’t being there for them if I didn’t and yet most likely it is the wrong thing".

 

[Reposted from xntrek]

iPads, Droid Tablets and Cloud services

So, I've had the iPad for a few months now ... and all the previous annoyances have not gone away. Though, the killer app (Goodreader) is still the primary reason I haven't handed it to Ingrid and moved onto a Droid tablet.

A friend of mine did get the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet I was considering. Using it, I did have envy. It feels solid. It has a wacom tablet screen and stylus that has pinpoint accurate drawing and writing recognition that is beyond expalnation to someone who has not had the pleasure of using the cintiq. It also has your "standard" finger and gesture abilities but with the added benefits of smarts like palm recognition. I can't rave on about it enough! Add Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and it really is something worth considering. 

In looking at both the iPad and Android platforms again it was time to reconsider applications and services. This led us to the http://alternativeto.net/ site to search for cross platform versions and services.

I also started thinking about the cloud based services I use and just wanted to put them down for posterity.

• Google App Services : why I use these is a no brainer really - with integrated Gmail, Google Talk, Calendar, Google Docs (now Drive) and other Collaboration apps all available at a touch.
• Cloud Storage : 
  • SugarSync : I was a huge fan of Dropbox, but SugarSync has stolen my heart. It offers more initial space (5G vs 2G) and has w configurable syncing, sharing and search options. This means that I can specify which files or folders are synced From and to my phone automatically, while still being able to access those files I choose to sync with other computers.
  • Dropbox : I still use dropbox, but admittedly it is primarily for applications and camera related requirements
  • Box.com : While it is possible to use box in the same way as sugarsync, it requires ugrading to the premium version, and i simply cannot justify the monthly cost. That said, having been lucky to gain a 50GB account, I tend to use it as a content distribution system, and in that function, it shines above the others. 
• Evernote : the next best solution for keeping all your ‘business’ in one place is Evernote. It is a simple app with the help of which you can record quick video clips, take pictures and make text notes taking advantage of the handset’s camera. It looks like a digital memory box and you can access it on the web or via a desktop client as well. I have also started keeping an eye on Clearly - an evernote extension to the Chrome browser on desktop platforms -- it could potentially replace "read later" applications if it goes cross-platform.
• The Chrome browser : A few years ago, I was using the Chrome to Phone and  Phone to Chrome apps between my windows desktop and my Android phone. Today, simply installing Chrome on all of my devices allows me to synchronise bookmarks, form data, tabs and even push pages to a specific mobile device. It has all but become a cloud based browser.
• XMARKS : Until recently, there just weren't any other simple way of syncing bookmarks across browsers and desktops. Xmarks makes it pretty damned easy across platforms. However, even after paying for a premium service, the mobile offerings have been lacking and with the advent of chrome's bookmarks synchronisation ... if a new update doesn't offer something new soon, it will be another relic.
• LastPass : The "last password you need to remember" password managment system that integrates across devices, browsers and is cloud accessible.
• CloudOn : I only recently discovered this - a cloud based MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint service that is not a "compatible" but an actual MS Office environment. It can also access google docs and a variety of cloud based storage.
• Pocket : Previously known simply as "read it later", it is very similar to instapaper or readability, but has the added afdvantage of being cross platform and free.

So, that's my list for now ... what else is out there that you'd recommend? Why do you like it/use it/recommend it?

[Reposted from xntrek]

They say there is always 3 sides to a story ...

That of one side, that of the other side … and then there is the truth.

I look at it a lot like looking at a maths problem.

We can gather the values of p(A) and the values of p(B) and we can then try to determine the probability of truth or p(T).

Now, sometimes you add 2 and 2 and get 5 … if you look closely, it may be because one or both were very large values of 2 … so, perhaps the p(T) is correct …

but it’s impossible for 2 and 2 to equal three because regardless of the smallness of the values of 2, it just cannot be computed that way.

So, while it may be true that we may never know the truth, with a little logic, we can spot the lies.

Never stop trying to spot the lies as you aim towards the truth.

[Reposted from xntrek]

Facing Mortality and the thoughts of the lessons it offers.

As some of you may know, my wife's sister passed away suddenly last month. We weren't terribly close - and perhaps therein is one of the great tragedies of it all, that at 44 years young, she left this plane of existence and in her place the vacuum of her existence highlighted the myriad of small things that left her estranged with her parents and distant from us and yet, in preparing to cremate her, we learned more about her and her life of the last 15 years in a few short days than in the actual 15 years of passed time.
My thanatophobia kicked in well and true - yet i managed to (mostly) hold it together for Ingrid and be there for her. However the whole event, along with my fears, depression and over analytical mind has brought out a few thoughts about how we live.
One of the many rules of life posts and posters I see are attributed to the Dalai Lama, and reading through them, some struck a chord.

The Dalai Lama is said to have stated that we should follow the Three Rs:

• Respect for self
• Respect for others and
• Responsibility for all your actions

However, I'd like to re-order these around because I don't believe you can respect yourself until you take responsibility for all of your actions and you cannot respect others until you can respect yourself.

Another item attributed to him is Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
I'd take that far further and state we should not let a little dispute injure any relationship. I think it is far easier to hold onto a perceived slight than to remember the true generosities.
Following that logic is another gem from the Dalai Lama - In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
It follows the same logic as the previous item. It is far too easy to forget all of the good that has passed. No one is ever so happy with someone that they thank them and then continue to raise all of the good things they did in the past and profusely rain gratitude on them for past deeds. So why do we do it when angry? It is just another way to add small kindling together in an effort to create a bonfire to light up your argument where a simple candle would have sufficed.
Looking at our (lack of) relationship with my sister-in-law and her husband, I realised a few things that are important

• If you don't make time, there will never be timeLife is always busy. Always. If we don't want to wake up one day and say "we should have spent more time together" then you need to just plan to spend it. We now have a standing Wednesday night dinner with the Brother-in-Law, another set for Tuesday or Thursday with the parents, a Sunday night call to the in-laws ... sure it takes two to make an effort, but I guess we need to offer the branch first.
• Love is not without risk nor painThere seems to be some kind of fallacy that love is an all powerful, magical force and that it somehow will make things better. I think that in fact, what makes it magical is that we will make an effort to make things better because we love someone, regardless of percieved insults, injuries or pain they cause. 
• A compromise is something where both parties lose a little to gain a lot.If you are asking someone to give something up and you aren't losing something in the deal as well, then it's not a compromise, but blackmail. It really is as simple as that. If something is not important to you, then say so, don't use it as a beating stick.
• Deal with your own demons Your past is your past Don't blame others for the demons you see.It is easy to see demons in the actions of others. However, we forget that our past and our demons are just that -- with an eye of objectivity, the reality is that the other person isn't even aware of what your demons are and why they were triggered.
• Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.As per a few items already listed, if your first response is going to be angry, venomous or in any other way not calm and collected - perhaps silence is the best response until we've worked out what caused the reaction and whether we need to take another step or say anything at all. I recall the three rules of speaking at this point:
  
  •  
    • Does this need to be said?
    • Does this need to be said by me?
    • Does this need to be said, by me, now?  

I'm sure there are many others - but that's just a few of the things that have been rolling around the cavern that is my head ...
Until next time, remember to live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to live it a second time.
[Reposted from xntrek]

Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck.

- The Lucky Country by Donald Horne, 1964

I find it amusing that Australian Politicians picked up the phrase "a lucky country" and ran with it, flying it as a flag and misapplying it as a form of rallying cry ... yet anyone who has read the book can see it was used ironically. It was a comment of disdain. An indictment on Australia.
Australia never earned its democracy ... it simply went along with some British habits and has been reticent to cut the apron strings.
Australia has not created wealth using "clever" means derived from education, science, technology or other innovations.
Australia's economic prosperity is largely derived from its rich natural resources.
Our Agriculture accounts for 12% of the GDP and produces enough surplus to export feed for 60 million whilst still keeping enough food locally to feed a population twice our own size.
Our mining, oil and gas extraction directly account for ten per cent of Australia's Gross Domestic Product.
Australia seems to care and show less enterprise than almost any other prosperous industrial society - through its myopian attitude to the mining sector, the lack of support for its education, research and development sectors and a seeming acceptance of creating a future where it will be an unimaginative nation, mired in mediocrity and manacled to its past.
[Reposted from xntrek]

Things I hate and people I love ...

but it's far easier to fill your life with things than people.

People can satisfy the hole inside, but requires us to first be part of the filling of another's hole first. Things fill the hole inside like wearing sandwiches on your head fills the hunger, but things don't ask for anything ... though those that have the things ask for your blood, sweat and tears via token pieces of paper.

A far cheaper and more rewarding exchange people are, so why do we find it easier to collect things instead?

[Reposted from xntrek]

Feelings ... how do they work?

One of the weird things I noticed this last month, is that I find it easier to feel for other people than I do for myself. It's like part of me allows me to feel and cry for them - but when it comes to myself, no way buddy-o.

I don't know why. I don't even have anything more to add. I guess I just needed to externalise the thought and validate it.

I'm sure I'll keep overanalysing this in the back of my head for, well, ever.

[Reposted from xntrek]