Posts from July 11, 2006

HDTV. Robert Scoble is an intelligent chap but has some truly bizarre thoughts. This theory is perhaps the most bizarre of all.

Playing is better than watching. Watching in the ground is better than HDTV. HDTV is better than TV. Watching on TV is (sometimes) better than listening on the radio.

To achieve success at 'soccer', you actually need to run around on a field not slump in front of TV with four gallons of soda and a mountain of cheesy nachos. If the latter was the criteria, England would surely have lifted the last two World Cups and European Championships.

When I visit customers, I am usually granted read-access to production servers. Mostly I am working closely with IT staff to explain what I am doing and why. I am not normally granted the passwords to administer the production system which is just the way I like it.

Otherwise, Siebel server CRMPROD1 which has been working fine for 2 years, unexpectedly core dumps, the call center is down, the business is losing 2 million dollars every minute and everyone is staring inquiringly in your direction.

Occasionally, the screensaver kicks in after a predefined interval. So the person has to unlock the screen. However, if the person is in a meeting or otherwise unavailable, the screen remains locked until he returns. This can waste valuable time so I prefer to keep the screen accessible at all times, if at all possible.

Consequently, I find myself acting like John Locke in 'Lost' who has to strike a key on the keyboard of a computer every 2 hours to avoid dire (yet unknown) consequences.

So, don't be surprised if you are working with an Oracle consultant who nervously keeps looking at his watch during a fascinating conversation about Siebel architecture. If he then rudely and abruptly terminates the dialog by hurtling back to his temporary desk and launches into a desperate, full length, athletic dive across the room to desperately hit a random key, that's why.