BYOD

In retrospect, the term BYOD should have seemed like more of a harbinger to me than it did at the time. In case you have never heard the term, it refers to "Bring Your Own Device". This phenomenon has been ushered in by the plethora of Google and Apple devices that consumers have become enamored by. When people change jobs, they are reluctant to leave their cherished devices behind.

Although I had read a lot about the BYOD phenomenon, I always thought about it from a security perspective. It never occurred to me to think about it from a "What will happen to Blackberry" perspective until our network administrator took me aside and said "We only have five Blackberry users left in our organization. Can I buy them iPhones and shut down the Blackberry server? They are a lot easier to support."

Suddenly, I really like BYOD. I also realized that RIM was facing an unprecedented uphill battle to reclaim their share of the phone market.

Pavlovian Shopping Experience

Aimee and I went to pick some stuff up from Wal-Mart last night. Ok, it was a lot of stuff. So much, in fact, that when we checked out I grabbed a second cart to put our groceries into. While I was waiting for Aimee’s turn in line, I sat on a bench at the end of the checkout. It wasn’t long before my eyes wandered to the piece of metal dangling from the bottom of the cart to the floor. “What could it be?”, I wondered.

When Aimee finally arrived at the checkout, she caught me fixated on the bottom of the cart. “Are you ok"?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just wondering why there’s a lightning rod on this cart”, I responded. It was just a hunch but it was also the only logical reason for the piece of metal. It just wasn’t clear to me what it was for.

Aimee clarified that for me. “Oh! What a great idea! I hate getting shocked by the cart!” That solved the mystery. Wal-Mart found a way to ground its carts, despite their rubber wheels. It really surprised me that any company would worry about something as minor as an occasional static shock to its customers. It made me wonder if they are concerned that shoppers are being conditioned to experience physical pain when they shop at a Wal-Mart.

A phone for the rest of us!

John Doe,

This is certainly one of the more unusual requests that we've had in quite a while, but we appreciate your help in this regard. I'm going to go ahead and close this ticket.

Thanks!
Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: John Doe
To: Gary
Subject: Re: Supervisor Phone


I have no need for a supervisor phone. If my new phone could be red however with the words "Big Deal" on it, that would go a long way.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone



----- Reply message -----
From: Gary
Subject: Supervisor Phone
To: Bill
Cc: John Doe

Bill,

I don't see why anyone has to have access to the supervisor phone, perhaps we should move it from John's office to the server room?

John Doe, I'm assuming this won't hurt your feelings? If necessary we can buy a second supervisor phone, but since we intend to substitute data for a supervisor anyway, seems like a waste.

Gary

Cinderella trying to go to the ball

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Parenting By Hockey

Everything that I believe to be a cornerstone of good parenting can be found in a well-officiated hockey game. If you have ever watched a game, you have surely borne witness to the tantrum thrown by many players on their way to the penalty box as they plead their case. You have also likely noticed that an official never says “well, you’re making me feel so bad, I’m gonna change my mind”. Nope. It is quite possible that the official will be more watchful of the play upon which the penalized player is blaming her folly, however officials never apologize for enforcing good conduct.

Officials stick together. When a linesman makes an offside call, players may attempt to argue the call with another official. They may earnestly plead their case that the call was wrong; perhaps they believe that the linesman doesn’t like them. I’ve never witnessed an official changing the call of another official, except on plays which are open to review (see below). No official has ever said “Yeah, I know, ole’ Joe really needs to get some glasses. You know what, let’s just go ahead and give you a penalty shot.”

The rules are allowed to change in hockey. Not over-night, not in the middle of games, but the rules do evolve. Different officials enforce the rules slightly differently. Amazingly enough, most players are able to adapt without too much trouble. Sure, there’s the occasional idiot that still doesn’t understand why he’s not supposed to elbow other players in the head. Most of today’s players have managed to get this change of acceptable behavior incorporated into their playing style. With reasonable notice, rules can change.

Reviewing the play. While most plays don’t get a review, some plays do. One of the great things about hockey is that an official can review the play and change his mind about the call. They actually say “Yeah, I thought there was a kicking motion too. As it turns out, there wasn’t and the goal is going to stand.” Officials can and do admit to being wrong. No hard feelings.

We use a penalty box, figuratively speaking. We don’t start the timer until our player has stopped futilely pleading her case. She sometimes argues that the linesman was wrong. Sometimes she is right. If it’s warranted, we’ll review the play and discuss the results after she has served her penalty. The officials never change each others’ calls. The call stands: even when there isn’t unanimity amongst the officials, there is a united front from the player’s perspective. If absolutely necessary, the officials confer between periods-but never within earshot of the player. Finally, the officials never forget that the player wants only to win the game. It is the job of the officials to make sure that the game was won in accordance with the rules.

Two Packs A Day

Aimee and I quit smoking (for the last time) about 9 years ago. Like many other reformed smokers, we sometimes smugly wonder how some people can tolerate a habit which easily costs them $150 per month. That money could be spent on so many better things.

Today, I realized how incredibly funny we are. Even though we don’t smoke, we’ve hardly put that extra (combined) $300 per month to good use. Really, we just developed a different but equally (or more) expensive habit. Coffee.

The weight of realization hit me today when I purchased my 16oz Saturday morning latte with an extra shot. After tip the total came to $4.98. Aimee and I each purchase three or four coffees per week.

I wondered why we haven’t purchased an espresso machine. We’d save money the first month. It isn’t as though we’re saving time driving the wrong direction to the coffee shop, waiting in line to order and pay, and then waiting in line for our coffee. If anything, that’s a net loss too. What other reasons would we have for continuing to frequent the local coffee shop? The only thing I can come up with is that we don’t want the responsibility of trying to service ourselves. We’re too specific and nitpicky about our orders. There’s too much of a chance we’d screw up our own orders, and then we’d have to start our days feeling inadequate. Perhaps we’ll leave coffee making to the professionals.