Monday, June 14, 2004
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Learnings: Dont buy stuff for an IT project from different suppliers
Recently I've been purchasing a SAN including Datacore storage routers. This includes HP Servers, storage enclosures, fibre channel equipment and the storage router software. The project leading supplier is someone having special knowledge in the type of SAN and storage router we wanted, not our standard supplier for server hardware.
I thought: lets buy the HP server and storage enclosures including disks from our standard supplier: so we have a bigger volume which may lead to getting better discounts in the future; and also we would always know that all HP equipment is from this single supplier. Therefore I decided to get only the fibre channel stuff and the Datacore software from the project leading supplier.
Bad idea. What happend: the HP servers arrived from our HP supplier way too late only for us to discover that one of them has a hardware defect. Took HP several days to fix it (is this called "next business day" service?) because the replacement motherboard was also broken... This screwed up of course the schedule of our Datacore supplier because he had already reserved staff to do the installation. Furthermore, in case of a project failure, I can return the Datacore and fibre channel stuff to the project leading supplier, but I'm stuck with the HP equipment (ok, this would be not too bad in this case because we could still use it).
Anyhow, in the future, if I have a project like this, I will make sure to get all parts from a single supplier.
I thought: lets buy the HP server and storage enclosures including disks from our standard supplier: so we have a bigger volume which may lead to getting better discounts in the future; and also we would always know that all HP equipment is from this single supplier. Therefore I decided to get only the fibre channel stuff and the Datacore software from the project leading supplier.
Bad idea. What happend: the HP servers arrived from our HP supplier way too late only for us to discover that one of them has a hardware defect. Took HP several days to fix it (is this called "next business day" service?) because the replacement motherboard was also broken... This screwed up of course the schedule of our Datacore supplier because he had already reserved staff to do the installation. Furthermore, in case of a project failure, I can return the Datacore and fibre channel stuff to the project leading supplier, but I'm stuck with the HP equipment (ok, this would be not too bad in this case because we could still use it).
Anyhow, in the future, if I have a project like this, I will make sure to get all parts from a single supplier.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Thinking about PDAs and mobile communication solution
1. Why a Pocket-PC based PDA
So far I was quite happy without a PDA - my small Siemens S55 phone did most what I needed - triband phone functionality, bluetooth headset, syncing the phonebook with my Outlook contacts at work, and syncing my Outlook calendar and notes.
While looking for my next car, most likely a BMW 3series again, I noticed the steep price of the "Navigationssystem Professional" of 3230 (!) Euros. The light version "Navigationssystem Business" is still 2300 Euros, does not have a map display and is not even able to receive and process information about current traffic jams ("TMC").
I actually need a navigation system only occasionally because I am not doing much business travel by car. I'm commuting to work every day, and visiting friends and parents often involves already well-known routes. Anyhow, a navigation system would still be very nice and helpful from time to time.
So, I'm looking for a car navigation system but without the steep price of the BMW one.
There is currently a lot of innovation going on with navigation systems: speed improvements, 3D view, point-of-interest overlays (e.g. gas stations), point-of-interest alerts (e.g. traffic speed control ...). Innovation on a standard plattform like MS-PocketPC is always much more dynamic than innovation on proprietary systems like the BMW one. Bundles consisting of a PocketPC-PDA, navigation software+map and GPS module are available for less than 1000 €. Navigation software is almost exclusively available on PocketPC-based PDAs - not for Linux or Blackberry and only rarely for PalmOS based devices. Finally, with a PDA, you actually have much more than just a navigation system: some PDAs have phone functionality and the PDA can provide mobile email, calendar and web access too - for less than a 3rd of the price of the BMW navigation system.
Short summary: to get a reasonably priced car navigation system, I would need to get a MS PocketPC based PDA!
2. Mobile Email and Web
I keep private and business contact and calendar information in my Exchange Server account at work. Additionally I have a private email account on a shared hosted Exchange Server at 1und1. I dont use the private account for calender information. From time to time I import the contacts folder of my company Exchange account into my private Exchange account (via .PST export and import).
With my current Siemens S55 mobile phone I do not use remote email access or email sync, although there would be different options to make this work:
- wireless via S55 built in POP3/IMAP client
- wireless via S55 built in SyncML client (would require an agent on the Exchange server which we dont have and actually I'm not sure if SyncML already does email sync - it used to be contacts and calendar only)
- in the sync cradle via the included XTND connect software
Areas where I would like to see an improvement are:
1) I often forget to sync the S55 with my Outlook calendar because the sync needs to be initiated manually on my PC.
2) It is not possible to do the sync at all without my notebook and a LAN/VPN connection to the Exchange Server at work. This would require a SyncML gateway on the Exchange
Server at work, which we do not have (available from www.space2go.de)
3) It would be nice to have mobile access to private and work email both on my notebook and on a PDA. The S55 is too small for reading and writing email
4) Blackberry-like "always-up-to-date" or "push" functionality regarding the sync of email and calendar on the PDA would be nice, but I think this is not a must have for me.
Once I have a PDA, I think I will sync only the addressbook of the S55 mobile phone, which does not change so often. Issues (1) and (2) would therefore obsolete for the S55 then.
Exchange 2003 comes with "ActiveSync", which allows a PDA to sync contacts, calendar and email e.g. via a GPRS connection. I'm not sure if a PocketPC-PDA can manage and sync two different profiles (private+work) via ActiveSync, I need to find out.
Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 together provide a whole bunch of great features for mobile email/calender access from a mobile notebook. Outlook will automatically detect if a online connection to the Exchange Server is present or not and will even detect the bandwidth and quality and automaticall adjust its download behavior (headers only, full message, etc.). It will do so not at launch time only (like previous Outlook versions did) but continously. An interrupted sync can be resumed. Sync traffic is optimized and compressed. Does not even require a VPN connection because it works via https - this is a great advantage since mobile VPN clients are a hughe security risk.
See this Word document for details on mobile access to Exchange 2003.
So this solves issues (1) - (3), but not yet (4). Microsoft claims to have "push" synchronization in Exchange 2003: Exchange sends a SMS message to the mobile client which then in turn initiates the sync via ActiveSync. Given the pricing of SMS messages, this does not seem to be practical in Germany. See also this article.
But there are solutions coming in the near future which will provide push sync both for PocketPC-PDA and Smartphones:
Press Release April 2004: Blackberry client for future Siemens Mobile Phones
Press Release March 2004: Blackberry client for T-Mobile MDA II
Unfortunately, since these press releases have been published, it became quiet regarding these promises. So far no release dates have been published.
A Blackberry device would be an option as well of course. Its great advantages are "push-synchronization", end-to-end security, its keyboard and its battery life of up to a week, while a PocketPC PDA battery lasts just for a day. This article has a comparison between Blackberry and PDAs. However because of its proprietary operating system I do not expect GPS navigation on Blackberry in the near future.
3. GPS Navigation Software for PDAs
Apparently there are three main products: TomTom (currently Version 3), Navigon Mobile Navigator 4 and Falk Navigator 4. Falk is a new entrant in the market, so TomTom and Navigon are really the major players. Navigon is the only product that is processing the free TMC traffic information. The TMC radio signal is received by the GPS device. TomTom offers traffic information as a subscription service via GPRS ("TT Traffic"), which means you have to pay for the subscription and also for the GPRS traffic.
This German article has some very interesting recommendations regarding the assembly of the full solution (PDA, Memory-Card, GPS-Hardware, Navigation Software, Accessories).
Another article describing the combination of T-Mobile MDA II + Navigon Mobile Navigato 4 + Bluetooth GPS Module.
So far I was quite happy without a PDA - my small Siemens S55 phone did most what I needed - triband phone functionality, bluetooth headset, syncing the phonebook with my Outlook contacts at work, and syncing my Outlook calendar and notes.
While looking for my next car, most likely a BMW 3series again, I noticed the steep price of the "Navigationssystem Professional" of 3230 (!) Euros. The light version "Navigationssystem Business" is still 2300 Euros, does not have a map display and is not even able to receive and process information about current traffic jams ("TMC").
I actually need a navigation system only occasionally because I am not doing much business travel by car. I'm commuting to work every day, and visiting friends and parents often involves already well-known routes. Anyhow, a navigation system would still be very nice and helpful from time to time.
So, I'm looking for a car navigation system but without the steep price of the BMW one.
There is currently a lot of innovation going on with navigation systems: speed improvements, 3D view, point-of-interest overlays (e.g. gas stations), point-of-interest alerts (e.g. traffic speed control ...). Innovation on a standard plattform like MS-PocketPC is always much more dynamic than innovation on proprietary systems like the BMW one. Bundles consisting of a PocketPC-PDA, navigation software+map and GPS module are available for less than 1000 €. Navigation software is almost exclusively available on PocketPC-based PDAs - not for Linux or Blackberry and only rarely for PalmOS based devices. Finally, with a PDA, you actually have much more than just a navigation system: some PDAs have phone functionality and the PDA can provide mobile email, calendar and web access too - for less than a 3rd of the price of the BMW navigation system.
Short summary: to get a reasonably priced car navigation system, I would need to get a MS PocketPC based PDA!
2. Mobile Email and Web
I keep private and business contact and calendar information in my Exchange Server account at work. Additionally I have a private email account on a shared hosted Exchange Server at 1und1. I dont use the private account for calender information. From time to time I import the contacts folder of my company Exchange account into my private Exchange account (via .PST export and import).
With my current Siemens S55 mobile phone I do not use remote email access or email sync, although there would be different options to make this work:
- wireless via S55 built in POP3/IMAP client
- wireless via S55 built in SyncML client (would require an agent on the Exchange server which we dont have and actually I'm not sure if SyncML already does email sync - it used to be contacts and calendar only)
- in the sync cradle via the included XTND connect software
Areas where I would like to see an improvement are:
1) I often forget to sync the S55 with my Outlook calendar because the sync needs to be initiated manually on my PC.
2) It is not possible to do the sync at all without my notebook and a LAN/VPN connection to the Exchange Server at work. This would require a SyncML gateway on the Exchange
Server at work, which we do not have (available from www.space2go.de)
3) It would be nice to have mobile access to private and work email both on my notebook and on a PDA. The S55 is too small for reading and writing email
4) Blackberry-like "always-up-to-date" or "push" functionality regarding the sync of email and calendar on the PDA would be nice, but I think this is not a must have for me.
Once I have a PDA, I think I will sync only the addressbook of the S55 mobile phone, which does not change so often. Issues (1) and (2) would therefore obsolete for the S55 then.
Exchange 2003 comes with "ActiveSync", which allows a PDA to sync contacts, calendar and email e.g. via a GPRS connection. I'm not sure if a PocketPC-PDA can manage and sync two different profiles (private+work) via ActiveSync, I need to find out.
Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 together provide a whole bunch of great features for mobile email/calender access from a mobile notebook. Outlook will automatically detect if a online connection to the Exchange Server is present or not and will even detect the bandwidth and quality and automaticall adjust its download behavior (headers only, full message, etc.). It will do so not at launch time only (like previous Outlook versions did) but continously. An interrupted sync can be resumed. Sync traffic is optimized and compressed. Does not even require a VPN connection because it works via https - this is a great advantage since mobile VPN clients are a hughe security risk.
See this Word document for details on mobile access to Exchange 2003.
So this solves issues (1) - (3), but not yet (4). Microsoft claims to have "push" synchronization in Exchange 2003: Exchange sends a SMS message to the mobile client which then in turn initiates the sync via ActiveSync. Given the pricing of SMS messages, this does not seem to be practical in Germany. See also this article.
But there are solutions coming in the near future which will provide push sync both for PocketPC-PDA and Smartphones:
Press Release April 2004: Blackberry client for future Siemens Mobile Phones
Press Release March 2004: Blackberry client for T-Mobile MDA II
Unfortunately, since these press releases have been published, it became quiet regarding these promises. So far no release dates have been published.
A Blackberry device would be an option as well of course. Its great advantages are "push-synchronization", end-to-end security, its keyboard and its battery life of up to a week, while a PocketPC PDA battery lasts just for a day. This article has a comparison between Blackberry and PDAs. However because of its proprietary operating system I do not expect GPS navigation on Blackberry in the near future.
3. GPS Navigation Software for PDAs
Apparently there are three main products: TomTom (currently Version 3), Navigon Mobile Navigator 4 and Falk Navigator 4. Falk is a new entrant in the market, so TomTom and Navigon are really the major players. Navigon is the only product that is processing the free TMC traffic information. The TMC radio signal is received by the GPS device. TomTom offers traffic information as a subscription service via GPRS ("TT Traffic"), which means you have to pay for the subscription and also for the GPRS traffic.
This German article has some very interesting recommendations regarding the assembly of the full solution (PDA, Memory-Card, GPS-Hardware, Navigation Software, Accessories).
Another article describing the combination of T-Mobile MDA II + Navigon Mobile Navigato 4 + Bluetooth GPS Module.
Friday, April 09, 2004
Transforming yourself into a good leader
Paul Glen writes in a ComputerWorld article on April 5th:
"Great leaders start out somewhere else and have to move into leadership roles. Becoming a leader poses transitional challenges that can be met only with emotional flexibility. One of the great challenges for a new manager is to transform his view of himself, to change how he measures himself and his success. Early life and career work is judged by personal productivity. In school, we're judged by the quality and quantity of our papers, tests and quizzes. Young workers are judged by the quality, quantity and speed of task completion. Our self-images become tied to our personal productivity. Moving into management requires a fundamental shift in how we view ourselves, a shift in the emotions about self and work. Leaders are judged not by their personal productivity but by their effect on the productivity, morale and effectiveness of others. Managers must be able to derive their personal satisfaction from helping others be productive rather than being productive themselves. This is a difficult transformation that's poorly understood and rarely discussed.
The ability to adopt a new self-image is critical to the transition into a successful leadership role.
Comfort with ambiguity: Beyond mastering their emotions, leaders must be able to cope with the chaos and confusion of reality. The world is a complex place filled with facts, provisional facts, lies, opinions and emotions. A large part of the leader's role is to help interpret the turmoil and bring order, sense and meaning to daily work. Successful leaders must transform ambiguity into clarity and create compelling narratives out of complexity.
They also bring a high tolerance for the continuing existence of confusion. They're able to hold contradictory ideas in their heads simultaneously without experiencing undue stress. Strong leaders aren't impervious to new facts and information but are comfortable revising their interpretations to meet changing times.
Ability to communicate: The ability to cope with ambiguity means nothing without the ability to communicate. If leaders and managers deliver value through their effect on others, communication is their primary tool. Whether leaders communicate verbally, in writing or through their actions, their ability to connect with those they lead is of prime importance."
"Great leaders start out somewhere else and have to move into leadership roles. Becoming a leader poses transitional challenges that can be met only with emotional flexibility. One of the great challenges for a new manager is to transform his view of himself, to change how he measures himself and his success. Early life and career work is judged by personal productivity. In school, we're judged by the quality and quantity of our papers, tests and quizzes. Young workers are judged by the quality, quantity and speed of task completion. Our self-images become tied to our personal productivity. Moving into management requires a fundamental shift in how we view ourselves, a shift in the emotions about self and work. Leaders are judged not by their personal productivity but by their effect on the productivity, morale and effectiveness of others. Managers must be able to derive their personal satisfaction from helping others be productive rather than being productive themselves. This is a difficult transformation that's poorly understood and rarely discussed.
The ability to adopt a new self-image is critical to the transition into a successful leadership role.
Comfort with ambiguity: Beyond mastering their emotions, leaders must be able to cope with the chaos and confusion of reality. The world is a complex place filled with facts, provisional facts, lies, opinions and emotions. A large part of the leader's role is to help interpret the turmoil and bring order, sense and meaning to daily work. Successful leaders must transform ambiguity into clarity and create compelling narratives out of complexity.
They also bring a high tolerance for the continuing existence of confusion. They're able to hold contradictory ideas in their heads simultaneously without experiencing undue stress. Strong leaders aren't impervious to new facts and information but are comfortable revising their interpretations to meet changing times.
Ability to communicate: The ability to cope with ambiguity means nothing without the ability to communicate. If leaders and managers deliver value through their effect on others, communication is their primary tool. Whether leaders communicate verbally, in writing or through their actions, their ability to connect with those they lead is of prime importance."
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
FutureMe.org
write yourself a letter to be delivered at a later date. it's sorta cool to receive a letter from yourself about where you thought you'd be a year (two years? more?) later.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Skype
This software is amazing - phone calls over the internet suddenly work. Forgotten are those times where the voice quality was awful, and it did not work with firewalls, especially with NAT on both sides. Skype simply works, and the voice quality will blow you away.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Friday, March 12, 2004
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Ansturm auf Jesus-Schocker-Film. Die Passion Christi von Mel Gibson
"das seit Monaten heiss erwartete Leinwandepos über die letzten Stunden im Leben Jesus Christus verzeichnet in den USA die grösste Startkopienanzahl aller Zeiten und übertrifft die bisherigen Spitzenreiter „Herr der Ringe“ und Harry Potter“ deutlich. Trotz immenser Vorverkaufszahlen bildeten sich landesweit lange Schlangen an den Kinokassen.
Filmstart in Deutschland: 18. März 2004
Die Passion Christi - deutsche Website
The Passion of the Christ - english website
Filmstart in Deutschland: 18. März 2004
Die Passion Christi - deutsche Website
The Passion of the Christ - english website
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