ITProfessional blog

The Thirteen Scariest Things in IT

eWeek has a great list of the scariest things in IT. I found it quite amusing, and agree with many of them. I might have moved migration to Vista up to the top three. I might have even have included "end user" as one of those scariest things.

For those that might not go to the eWeek link...the 13 are (bottom up)

13. The Blackberry
12. Application Development
11. Golf
10. Head Hunters
  9. Vista
  8. Management by Book of the Month Club  (who me!)
  7. CFOs (don't I know!)
  6. Business Process Integration
  5. License Management
  4. Industry Consolidation
  3. Globalization
  2. The End of the Quarter
  1. The Merger

Electronic Note Taking

I have always been interested in those technologies that allow you to take notes on paper and then move it to a computer. Yes, you can always scan all your notes, but I am more interested in products that capture the notes electronically, and then allow transfer to the PC (or Mac).

I owned a CrossPad a number of years ago. However, the environment I worked in did not allow me to connect the pad to my computer for downloading. I enjoyed the product, but lack of use did not allow me to fall in love with it. So, I returned it for a refund.

I have also owned a Seiko SmartPad that worked with my Palm III. Picked it up in a bargain bin at Staples. Used it for a couple of months but then switched to a PocketPC. It wasn't great, but not bad. The problem I had was my Palm get shutting off due to power consumption time out. I never looked into getting software for my PocketPC.

Another one I am interested in looking into is Digital Pen from Pegasus. I like the compactness of it, and would be interested in test driving it. The cost does not seem out of range ($149 I have found). If you have used this I would be interested in hearing your experiences.

Where do I begin....

I have been in this profession for close to 25 years, and  I still am not sure what I want to be when I grow up. Interesting, I guess I don't believe I have grown up yet.

I have been fortunate in that I have worked with a number of other disciplines (e.g. mathmaticians, chemists, etc.). Information Technology is one of those professions where the longer you are around the less valuable you may become. This is because the IT industry in continously changing.

This is a problem for those of us that are aging and having to walk a fine line of staying on top of technology, and wanting to migrate to management. If you look at many high-level management positions in IT, they imply working knowledge of some new technologies that are out there, hands-on experience, and of course budget management.

So I begin my quest for a new job that allows me to expand my capability both in management and financial responsbility. In this journey I will provide insight into tips and techniques I come along that help land me that "new" and "exciting" job.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

The latest trend has been the push for service oriented architectures. It would seem that old ideas just get repackaged and renamed. The plus is that adoption of standards has allowed some ideas to florish in their rebirth.

CIO Magazine has a good tutorial on the Service Oriented Architecture.

I know I am busy trying to get familiar with the SOA and the technologies that support it. It seems most of my few years have been away from technology and more in the bureacacy of my job.

Gartner's 2006 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle

In August 2006, Gartner announced its 2006 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle. The Hype Cycle assesses the maturity, impact, and adoption speed of 36 key technologies and trends during the next ten years.

The themes and assocated technologies are

1. Web 2.0
• Social Network Analysis
• Ajax
• Collective Intelligence
• Mashup
2. Real World Web
• Location-aware Technologies
• Location-aware Applications
• Sensor Mesh Networks
3. Applications Architecture
• Event-driven Architecture
• Model-driven Architecture
• Corporate Semantic Web