Posted in Consider that 12% of the 18,000-student campus body was infected in the first week of class. Now imagine if it H1N1 mutates into something dangerous, like it did down in Mexico last winter.
How much of our infrastructure, supply chain or healthcare system could withstand a 12% disruption? How many people will be sickened unnecessarily because they “have to be somewhere?”
Times like this, I’m glad I can work from home.
From Screw Google, not the point of the article but the name of an alleged lobbying & PR campaign by Microsoft to fight Google in the legislative and regulatory rather than market space.
The conclusion pretty much sums up how I feel about Microsoft today:
maybe its time for Microsoft to realize that they can’t afford to spend their time and energy tearing competing companies down. Instead they should be using that time to focus on building themselves up. While others are bringing new and innovative ideas to customers no matter the cost (see YouTube), Microsoft seems to be that 32 year-old guy who is obsessed with how awesome and popular they were in high school without realizing they are no longer awesome or popular.
Let me be clear… I don’t want Microsoft to fail. In fact I’d like to see them succeed. But the company seems to be driving itself into the ground with a corporate culture that may have worked a decade ago but will not work now.
I’ll specify, “I’d like to see them succeed as one of multiple options.” I’d like to see some diversity in the computing biosphere, something that is generally lacking today.
I think that the same thing could be said, though, for the long-term incumbents of any style- or innovation-driven business out there today. This is not just a Microsoft or technology problem. The automobile industry (which has inherent structural problems, and which it has effectively ignored in favor of lobbying), banking (”build more branches” and “layer risk” are not innovation, they are anti-innovation since they consumed capital at the expense of any potential real value creation), tech (see above), energy (”Clean Coal”)…and don’t even get me started about telecom, the kings of regulatory defense of business models.
I find that I’ve been lacking time to post, here or over at The New School Blog, but that’s not to say I’m not reading and thinking.
The biggest problem I have is that with some of the shifts in my role at work, much of what I want to talk about is now considered to be Classified, and by the time I get finished sanitizing it, there’s nothing left to say. Don’t blame me, blame the lawyers.
Nevertheless, some interesting articles that I’ve left sitting in tabs on my browser until I get around to posting them and/or mailing them off to various folks:
- Why corporate IT should let us browse any way we want.
I offer this with no stance on this article whatsoever. That is to say, I’m neither endorsing nor rejecting the premise, because there are bits of it that I want to agree with, even though I know that the author is *painfully* naive about both the risks and the poor judgement of the average corporate citizen.
Much of the problem here is solved only by properly motivated and educated people. Unfortunately, Security Awareness is, as we all know, still a Hard Problem. If that is truly the case, then PC’s are a paradox in his world–locked down machines demotivate, which makes people therefore need those controls. Perhaps the real question becomes how organizations can break the current equilibrium point and find a new, mutually-beneficial equilibrium. - INTERNET INFOWAR
How to fight for Hearts And Minds on the modern Internet/Web - Google is now crowd-sourcing traffic data
I’m in favor since it’s an explicit, per-use opt-in (you have to start Google maps and enable it) and I get benefit from it. - Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess
Wired takes a look at Craigslist and how it should not exist. Back in my online dating days, we had a property that was not much better looking than Craigslist. We never touched it other than to patch the servers. It was ugly, buggy, and had a hardcore user base of ugly people (seriously) who flooded the Customer Care department when it was finally “updated.” Some things don’t want to be slick and up-to-date. Classifieds are one of them. - 1,000 cameras ’solve one crime’
Finally, a little something fromOceaniaGreat Britain with a metric for CCTV effectiveness. “A Home Office spokeswoman said CCTVs “help communities feel safer”.” So CCTV’s are tweaking people’s Risk Homeostasis? If they’re increasing risk tolerance, but not actually making a difference, then the net effect would be that they’re actually making things worse.
Happy Friday, everyone!
A note from my Mom recalling a few details of the Apollo 11 moon landing which remind us how different the world was then in so many ways.
….I wore a maternity dress for the first time. In listening to the coverage of the moon walk I recalled that your dad and I were invited to a moon walk watching party at an Arthur Andersen friend’s home. Everyone thought that Armstrong would land and just hop right out, only he took six hours to make the giant leap for mankind. In the meantime we learned that e-v-e-r-y restaurant had closed and the world was watching their televisions. The hostess was not prepared to feed all ten of us, so the host got on the phone and found some place that had carry out and went and got sandwiches. We never did eat at the fancy restaurant in the plan for that night.
Love, Mom
PS: The dress was aqua.
Thanks, Mom! I love you too.
Damn I love Seth Godin. What he calls compromise (but which I’d argue is really Utility) is something I’ve become deeply attuned to over the past couple of years.
If you sell crack to kindergarten students, no need to read this.
Same thing if you donate all your belongings and income to the poorest and sickest in the slums and ghettos.
The rest of us have compromised. We’re not profit-maximizing sociopaths, nor are we saints. We’re somewhere in between.
It’s interesting to consider where we choose to compromise.
I took the Beeeg Job, found it not to my liking (or not to my liking at that company), then was given the honor of returning to a job which, while not quite as prestigious on paper, I now realize makes me happier in pretty much every way.
Don’t underestimate quality of life and job satisfaction when thinking about work just because they’re intangibles. After all, nobody ever dies saying, “I should have spent more time at work.”
Since I’ve already started to receive emails, I should clarify that my good friend Bob got hit with the RIF axe. I’m still fine, at least as far as I know or anyone is in the current economy.
-chandler
I am joining the ranks of the pre-mature retirees via the route of the RIF which seems to be a common place to stand these days. Lots of people in little rooms having hushed discussions, sad faces, quiet fears, slumped shoulders.. I am sure that the cure is the exit interview on the last day, but since I have the malady I do not know what the end is like. As far as the cause; well I have theories but, will leave that to the economists of the world and the thieves.
I am told that there are multiple symptoms of the RIF..tire Pandemic and they vary in each case. There is crying, fear, hate, anger, depression, sadness, joy, relief. I am surprised that there is little violence; and hopeful that we do not progress to that.
Out of the recovery comes another wave of emotions and the need to channel yourself into something good: exercise, volunteer, hug your wife, listen to music, walk in the woods. Then plan your budget, change jobs into a job hunter/gatherer/creator.
For me a time to write grants, plan a couple of iPhone applications, take more classes towards a degree that I want. Read “What Color is Your Parachute” again. Write a new resume, hit the pavement of the internet and job search world.
After almost two decades of walking the same road, the new one is hard to see in the mist. The cure is next friday; wish me luck.
-bob
Adam Shostak let the cat out of the bag about our combined blogging that’s going to be going on at http://newschoolsecurity.com/.
I’m pleased an honored to be joining Adam, Alex Hutton and Brooke Paul to continue to expand on the evolving challenges of Information Protection and Risk Management.
Blogging will be even lighter than usual here as a result, but I hope to see all of you, dear readers, over there.