She figures that if SHE’s going to start blogging, I might as well re-start. So here’s my first “new” blog, in keeping with the letter, if not the spirit, of the agreement.
My daughter is making me start blogging again
November 26th, 2009SOA Security Deep Dive
February 4th, 2009I’m going to teach two full-day courses on SOA Security. It’s pretty exciting stuff, and I’m very excited about the material. The first one will be in Washington, DC on February 10, 2009.
The second one will be in San Diego, CA on April 10, 2009. If you’re interested at all in implementing real world security for SOA, you need to attend one of these! Here’s a podcast I did with Ron Schmelzer of ZapThink about it.
On a related note, I just had a discussion with Dave Linthicum on SOA Security. Check it out!
3 insights
January 5th, 2009I don’t mean to sound conceited (isn’t that what everybody says before they say something really conceited?) but I was asked recently to give a quick 100-second talk at an entrepreneur’s forum on a completely open topic. Of course there’s always the usual suspects – How to get your company funded (in under 100 seconds!); How to build a dev organization, etc. But I figured I’d share with the eager masses three insights that have struck me over the last 8 years of entrepreneurship. And now, for a limited time only, you can get them here FOR FREE!
Insight 1: Correlation does NOT imply causation!
You know what I mean. The more firemen fighting a fire, the more damage there is going to be; therefore firemen cause damage. or, another favorite: since the 1950s, both the atmospheric CO2 level and crime levels have increased sharply; therefore atmospheric CO2 causes crime. That kind of stuff. You think I’m kidding, right? These truths are self-evident, right? Do you know how many times in my career I’ve heard otherwise reasonable people (well, VC’s and CEO types, but you know what I mean – and no offense to some of the great VC’s and CEO types that I know – you know who you are) say things like:
- Person X just joined the company and look! now the company is profitable! You should hire him/her.
- Company Y used this strategy, and look! they’ve doubled their revenues! You should use the same strategy.
- Company Z used this marketing message, and look! they got acquired in 6 months! You should use the same message.
Regardless of whether Person X is a total moron who just happened to luck into the position while the market went ballistic. Or Company Y’s revenues doubled because of a cycle in the demand curve, in spite of their so-called strategy. Or Company Z’s acquisition has been in the works before their new marketing message, and is due to the acquiring company building up their product portfolio. Or, most importantly, whether any of those things actually apply to your company.
Insight 2: Dude, you’re NOT due!
The gambler’s fallacy – just because you sank $1000 in the same slot machine does NOT mean your next quarter is going to pay off! It’s a new coin toss (excuse the mixed gambling metaphors). At every decision ask yourself: If I were to put money into this starting today, would I? And if not, what would I change? Like Kenny Rogers says in the song: “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.”
Insight 3: Respect yourself!
Money is only money. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Your currency should be your self-respect.
And, speaking of self-respect, look for the Enterprise Edition of these insights to be on sale here shortly.
it’s the same (old) oily song
November 4th, 2008It’s been quite a while since my last blog. I’ve been wanting to, honestly, but I keep finding that I have other things to do. I know, that makes no sense. The closest I’ve come to blogging recently is after getting my iPhone. I figured there was a dearth of articles about it, but even my total infatuation with the thing (it’s the best damn device I’ve bought in AGES), couldn’t get me to write. Maybe I will soon. What finally did it is something that I saw recently on my latest trip.
You see, I just got back from spending two weeks in Indonesia. It’s a fabulously marvelous country, with great, friendly people, awesome scenery, diverse cultures, great food, awesome food, amazing fruit and wonderful food. Not to mention the food. So I will write about all that in a subsequent blog. I will also write about Durian fruit and the fabulous Durian pancakes you can get at the Duck King restaurant in Surabaya! But one very powerful thing that struck me has more to do with how the powerful treat the masses, and how common a theme that is. When I was in Surabaya, everybody wanted us to see the “mud flow”. Intrigued, we drove the 20kms north from Surabaya to Porong, where we faced a surreal sight. There, behind a huge dike, as far as the eye could see, was a sea of hot oily mud, fed by a bubbling underground mud volcano.
The real tragedy is the story behind it. Here’s what I’ve managed to find out.
In May 2006, a company owned by the Bakrie Group, which is in turn owned by the family of one of the richest men in Indonesia, Abulrizal Bakrie (who also just happens to be Indonesia’s Minister of Welfare, go figure), started drilling for oil and gas. They also were drilling without using any protective casing with their drills, which apparently is contrary to all common safety practices in the oil drilling business. No matter, because in addition to the gas, they found hot mud, and lots of it. A mud volcano, to be more exact. Due to the lack of protective casing, this hot mud mixture started spilling out and engulfing the adjoining land, which happened to include rice paddies, factories, fish and shrimp ponds (which form a large part of the economy in that region) and villages with actual living people and animals in them. People as in men, women and children. And all their belongings. Needless to say, all that was destroyed, along with a brand new toll highway being built. These two pictures are separated by a thin strip of road, barely wide enough for our car. The rubble you see is what’s left of the village houses that used to stand on this spot.
rice paddy - flooded
rice paddy - intact
Somehow, miraculously, the adjoining rice paddies, shown in the other picture, were untouched. But not for long, because the mud mixture is still flowing and it doesn’t seem to subside. According to the Christian Science Monitor, as of November 2007 an estimated 1 billion cubic feet of mud has inundated an area of 2.5 square miles, burying 11 towns and displacing at least 16,000 people, and that it is expected that the mud eruption will last for years to come. Along the way, since the first eruption, there have been some explosions, a ruptured gas pipeline, and several collapses of the dike in different places, all of which have caused more property damage, and in some instance more injuries and deaths. But here’s the galling part. Mr. Bakrie and his family have tried to distance themselves from the disaster caused by their company, even at one point trying to sell the company for $2 to an offshore company owned by the same group, according to the New York Times. As far as I’ve heard, people have still not received any compensation or restitution, and the rumour has it that Bakrie is trying to buy people out of their lands at a small fraction of the original cost, but the deal is only available to people who have actual deeds to their land. Unfortunately most of the people have no belongings left and have no paperwork.
This is a sad state of affairs as it is, but it was a stark reminder to me of all the other instances where people’s lives are used as pawns in the money games of rich, powerful people, all in the name of oil. I wonder if there have ever been any wars started for that same cause …
the Aprilia saga
August 12th, 2008Ok I did not tell the truth. Actually I meant to, but I felt I needed to clarify something first: The comment in my previous post about writing inane personal stuff was a joke. And to prove it, this post will deal with an inane personal matter of mine. The book review will have to wait for another post.
I am an avid motorcyclist. Notice I’m avoiding the term “biker” since it evokes images of fake tattoos, and doctors or lawyers out for a Sunday ride on their brand new Harleys. Yes I am trying to start a flame war. In any case, after shedding some bikes, I am down to two Moto Guzzis and one Aprilia. After years of riding all kinds of bikes, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Italians know how to make fast and beautiful bikes.
The Guzzis are quite a sight. One is a 1979 1000SP touring bike.
The other is a collector (but regularly ridden) 1978 LeMans Mark I.
The Aprilia is a the beautiful RSV Mille.
When we moved from North Carolina to Vancouver, I brought most of my bikes with me (well, I had to sell a couple due to space considerations – a shame, I know). I had no trouble licensing and insuring the Guzzis and a Honda that I had (1981 CB-1 – another beaut). But it turns out that the Aprilia is illegal in Canada. Note that the Canada Customs officers at the border had no problem assessing its value and taxing me appropriately when I brought it into Canada with the rest of my belongings. I wasn’t aware of how disconnected our Government is until I received a letter from the Ministry of Transport ordering (yes, ordering) me to destroy the Aprilia, or take it out of the country. And no, they would not refund what I paid in customs for it. I asked. So for the last few years, I’ve been battling the Canadian Government and ICBC (British Columbia Provincial government owned insurance) bureaucracy to try to explain that the Aprilia Mille is homologated and legal in most countries around the globe, including the US (who has almost identical rules to ours), Japan, and all of Europe. Furthermore, the newer models are actually homologated and legal in Canada. I am sure that somebody, somewhere in the deep, deep bowels of our bureaucracy has the semblance of a brain and some initiative to put all this information together and let me keep my beloved Aprilia. Yes, I am a hopeless optimist. I’ll keep you posted.
and we’re off!!
August 12th, 2008I have always thought that, as for any kind of public speaking or writing, there are at least three requirements for a successful blog:
- Having something interesting to say;
- Having the time to say it;
- Having the skill to say it well.
Painfully lacking all three requirements (see my pathetic first attempt at a blog over two years ago), I decided nevertheless to give this blogging thing another go. After all, I do spend a lot of time on airplanes, and there are only so many episodes of Entourage or 30 Rock that I can watch or re-watch in one sitting. Yes I know, what about doing some work? I actually do a lot of work on the plane (you never know who’s reading this blog), but I need some diversion from time to time. I’m digressing. As all three of you who are reading my blog probably know, the first thing you try to decide on in this kind of situation is: What do I write about. Actually that’s the second thing. The first thing, as a techie, is technical stuff: How do I set up my domain name (1 and 1), Where do I host it (GeekHosting), and What blogging software to use (WordPress).
Next comes the topic. It seemed inane to write about my daily trivia, like so many other bloggers do. No disrespect intended, but I really don’t care to read about how long it took you to get to work today (7 minutes today, just in case you’re wondering). And those pictures of your pet iguana are cute but s/he looks like any other iguana on Wikipedia. The answer came to me in the form of a discussion I had with another friend of mine (this is actually not true, but it has better dramatic effect). We always end up discussing books, as in: What’re you reading now; What did you read recently; How do you like this author; This book sucked; etc. So I figured, what better way to dip my toes (heh, almost said “pen”) in the blogging waters (you’ll notice I’m very strong on metaphors) than starting to write about books that I’ve read, or am reading, or want to read. At least to start the ink flowing (I know, I couldn’t let it go – I should’ve).
Oh, one more caveat: I am never reading just one book at the same time. Well, at least that’s rarely the case. So you’ll typically see more than one book listed as “current read” or “recently finished”. So, here goes again, for real this time. Almost. My next posting will be about one of the four books I am currently reading.
If, of course, this whole blogging thing doesn’t fall through the cracks again.
– Toufic