From the monthly archives:

October 2008

Parallel Computing

October 25, 2008Main

Boring history prologue
I started playing with ‘computers’ back in the days when they came with 3K of memory (Vic 20 anyone?). And thank goodness I was too young to have experienced the punch card era… They quickly scaled up so that by the time I was at uni, 16MB of RAM was becoming standard. Fast [...]

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Steve Ballmer rocks da house in Sydney – invites

October 22, 2008Community

You probably already know that Steve Ballmer is coming to Sydney next month – Thursday 6 November from 3pm to be precise. If not, then check out this site.
I’m fortunate enough to have a few invites to the event (yes, it is invite only at this stage). If you’d like to attend simply drop me [...]

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SBTUG: Next Wed 29 Oct 2008 – SQL Server 2008 explained

October 22, 2008Community

Next Wednesday 29 October 2008 we’ve got a special SQL Server 2008 night at the Sydney Business & Technology User Group (SBTUG).
That means we’ve got Justin King, Omar Besiso and Geoff Orr talking about different aspects of SQL Server 2008. The focus is on covering high level benefits (ie there won’t be much in depth [...]

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My ideal role

October 20, 2008Main

This post follows on from my previous where I explained that I was leaving Elcom, and the reasons behind that decision. This post covers my thoughts on the ideal role for me. But if you don’t have time to read it all, here’s the summary:
Ideal role: Looking to contribute at a senior management level in [...]

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Leaving Elcom – looking for my next role

October 20, 2008Elcom

Last week, following probably the worst IT downturn in the last 8 years I decided to leave Elcom. Crazy huh? Yeah, it may turn out to be foolish, but in this post I aim to explain why, and in the following post, what I‘m looking for as my next step.
I thought I’d put this [...]

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Features, Benefits, Results (FBR)

October 17, 2008Main

I thought I’d try to simplify my previous post on how to survive in tough economic times.
Here’s how I see it:

During the good times (eg when every second IT company is planning an IPO) you can focus on features. Features are really all about comfort and convenience, and in good times people lap them [...]

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Office DevCon – 15-16 November 2008 – Sydney, Australia

October 15, 2008Community

Yes, Office DevCon is on again. Here’s the details:
Office DevCon is an annual community-driven conference that allows Microsoft Office developers and power users to come together in one location to hear expert speakers present on a wide range of Microsoft Office-related topics.
Come along and discover how to do things you never knew you could do [...]

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Finding opportunities in hard times

October 13, 2008Main

You may recall my post ‘The Death of Gen Y’ back in May when I talked about the coming IT crash. In that post I also suggested attributes of companies that would survive during the tough times. And I think those points still stand. But let’s consider an additional area…
First, let’s find an opportunity and [...]

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Web Directions South – Day 2

October 5, 2008Community

Another interesting day. I caught up with Michael Kordahi and had a play on the Surface. Oh, and yes I’ve ordered one for the Elcom conference room – should be turning up any decade now
Keynote (Jeffrey Veen)
The opening keynote by Jeff was good. Data is overwhelming, and analysing it can be an art-form. [...]

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Web Directions South – Day 1

October 5, 2008Community

[NOTE: I wrote this post and the next over a week ago. But I wanted to hold off posting them until I’d had a little bit of time to reflect.]
I had the pleasure of attending Web Directions South today – my first time.

It’s interesting to compare it to TechEd from a few weeks ago [...]

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