Ok, so I realize that my blog isn’t a fair forum for criticizing people. I’m writing concerning, one specific person (we’ll call her Beulah) who tried to shame me and here I am denigrating that person, without the chance to rebut or refute. The details are unimportant but sufficed to say, I think Beulah wanted to flex her might.

Beulah: I couldn’t get your RFC (request for change) completed quickly because of [common unix issue]
PB: Well, did you try [simple unix answer]
Beulah: Well, [simple unix solution] isn’t possible on this platform of unix
PB: Ok, so you could have, [really simple solution using a very obscure unix command]

A long silence followed, probably referencing the unix command that I gave out.

Beullah then shifted into bureaucratic mode figuring out that I have shamed her with my trivial command line skills. The last thing I wanted to do is upstage her and point out her faults as a senior “subject matter expert”. So, I ended the long silence and offered up a solution that neither pointed out her failings as an admin as well as show that I’m still just a project planner.

She walked away unscathed, but I highly doubt that she’ll be chatting me up from out of the blue to teach me unix lesson.

I was an early adopter of the AT&T Wireless OGO when it was released in September 2004. Though I was late to the party with all of my friends shelling out the bucks for unlimited sms plans for their phone, the OGO was the cheapest way for me to hop onto the bandwagon. Cute and fun, simple yet proprietary, the OGO was a perfect for what it did; email, sms, and chat.

Unfortunately the world of AT&T Wireless in late Q4 of 2004, didn’t treat the OGO too kindly. As AT&T Wireless was acquired by SBC and re-branded to Cingular, the OGO became a product that wasn’t in the purview of the new regime. I clutched my OGO, as accounts were changed, services became spotty, hardware became faulty, and new handsets were rolled out. It wasn’t until mid 2006 where I just gave up and bought myself a SideKick 3.

With still no plans of ever coming back to the US, IXI Communications has previewed the new OGO 2.0 for the Swiss market. Originally neutered in the Swiss market, the defacto named OGO 1.0, didn’t have all the fun features that we enjoyed here in the States, but this new OGO 2.0 has the promise of a fun new sporty handy.

Engadget Linky Link

One of our number has given birth to a beautiful baby girl. We received the birth announcement in corporate email, well sort of. The email hailed the birth date and weight of the baby which would have been sufficient information if we weren’t in the age of digital communications. The upswing was that there was promise of pictures on the other side of the hyperlink.

hyperlink -> nasty shared database thingie -> PowerPoint presentation

A PowerPoint presentation, three pictures, three landscape slides, the last being out of bounds because it was a portrait layout picture. I am saddened that a beautiful event such as a birth is captured and distributed like a work memo or report. “Check the communications database, the guidelines for corporate governance on the project have been updated. Oh and it says here that Phil is going to get married this weekend.”

Never before have I wished so fervently that Microsoft release a decent slideshow making application out of the items in ‘My Pictures’.

The new guy in our group just noticed that I wear jackets from time to
time, today being one of those days. The dress code here is business
casual, with middle to upper management wearing jackets and ties. I
suppose the new guy didn’t find it fitting for me to wear a suit
jacket because I am just not that type of person. I smiled and said
“I like wearing jackets.” and walked away.

Had the dude given me the old line, “dress for the job you want, not
the one you have” I would have revealed my secret(s)…

– I’m rocking a faux-hawk today
– I have a “White People Suck” t-shirt on
– My collared sport shirt is untucked
– I am wearing pants that are ill fitting
– Dumbasses can’t see past the fact that I’m wearing a jacket because
they think that I’m out to take their job, or going for a job
interview.