Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Aug 27, 2011, 11:14 am
. . . a long, long break.
With the start of the New Year I decided to take a break. I stopped blogging, stopped using Twitter, and just made a complete break from the whole social networking arena. The routine of researching and writing articles was taking a lot of time and I needed some... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Dec 21, 2010, 9:09 am
In the spirit of the holidays and with most profound apologies to Moore and/or Livingston my gift to you this holiday season is this little poem written with extreme poetic license. Please feel free to add a stanza of your own.
'Twas The Night Before An IT Christmas
'Tw... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Dec 10, 2010, 11:34 am
The disclosure of diplomatic cables by the organization Wikileaks got a tremendous amount of attention. Given that the story involves issues related to theft, sexual assault, the moral duty for civil disobedience and just plain gossip, this is not at all surprising.
We shouldn't take an... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Nov 10, 2010, 2:22 pm
Recognizing the difference of the Internet is key to online sales success
Doing business over the Internet, whether B2C or B2B, is not the same as the traditional pre-Internet methods. I’m sure the typical response to this is “well, duh!” That simple statement is taken as a gi... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Oct 27, 2010, 5:00 am
Three things to keep in mind when designing applications.
IT spends a lot of time trying to improve our system and the user interface, especially when they will be used by our external customers. Most of the time, we're pretty good at delivering easy-to-use applications. However, I recent... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Oct 13, 2010, 10:00 am
IT leaders need to start thinking in terms of users making their own technology choices.
Consider the concept of BYOT, or Bring Your Own Technology. The premise is that instead of IT dictating the supported computing platforms and cellphones, users will make their own selection based on... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Oct 10, 2010, 12:46 pm
I'm not a big fan of IT conferences. For the most part you're just paying for the privilege of attending a vendor sales pitch. I don't like the free ones and certainly see no need to pay for one.
The one thing that is nice about the conference is the opportunity to meet other practit... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Sep 29, 2010, 6:00 am
After a year-and-a-half on the job, Vivek Kundra has not been strategic enough.
Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Obama named Vivek Kundra as the first U.S. CIO in March 2009. This was a cause for excitement within the IT community as we saw this as an opportunity for important IT-related... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Sep 15, 2010, 6:00 am
Cut out jargon and focus on helping, not limiting, customers.
IT has long sought to be considered a partner to the other business leaders in our companies. It's all part of our pursuit of the holy grail of "having a seat at the table."
Naturally, getting there mean... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Sep 1, 2010, 6:00 am
Consumer technologies are infiltrating the corporate world. Learn to leverage them.
I like TED. TED is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to "Ideas Worth Spreading." They have conferences where they bring together thought leaders from the world of technology, entertainment and de... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Aug 18, 2010, 6:00 am
Apple has its lovers. Microsoft and Google have fanboys who love to hate them.
A popular theme for technical writers is to compare one product or technology with another. PC vs. Mac, iPhone vs. Droid, IE vs. Firefox, etc.
These debates include well-reasoned disagreement and o... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Aug 4, 2010, 6:00 am
Apple's tablet is for consumers. Microsoft should aim for business users.
Despite previously killing a tablet PC initiative, Microsoft is reportedly feverishly working with its partners on Windows 7-powered tablets. Some think this is an attempt to catch up to Apple by creating an iPad ki... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Jul 21, 2010, 6:00 am
Sometimes how you handle a problem is more important than the solution.
Last week Steve Jobs addressed the antenna issues of the iPhone 4, the so-called "antennagate."
The "-gate" suffix is rather illustrative. The original "gate, Watergate, started out with what is commonly c... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Jul 15, 2010, 8:03 pm
Meridith Levinson just published a great article on CIO.com and Networkworld.com on communication mistakes that CIOs (and I dare say many in IT) make. There is a lot that we all can learn from these common mistakes.
Levinson was kind enough to mention some blogs (including this one) t... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Jul 7, 2010, 6:00 am
Unlike futurists, IT has to deliver on its possibilities.
Massachusetts based Terrafugia, Inc. recently announced that it has successfully completed its flight test program for its "Flying Car." Terrafugia hopes to have the first delivery of its beta prototype in 2011.
Whil... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Jun 23, 2010, 6:00 am
Steve Jobs needs to get other phone carriers on board--fast.
The Apple-AT&T partnership for the iPhone and iPad hasn't gone exactly as well as planned. AT&T has stumbled more than once. Most recently, there have been problems with iPhone 4 order fulfillment, including indications that cus... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Jun 9, 2010, 6:00 am
Why people should secure their own Wi-Fi networks, and what the IT industry can do to help. Google was taken to task recently when it was discovered that it had captured private payload data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks while its Street View cars traveling to collect data for Google's location-... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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May 26, 2010, 6:00 am
Access to our personal data is the price we pay for ''free'' services on the Internet.
Privacy issues, the Internet and social media in particular have been getting a lot of attention lately. Facebook has become the poster child for privacy concerns about the data we divulge onlin... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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May 12, 2010, 6:00 am
With the right applications, e-mail in the cloud could be a productivity boon.
There has been a lot of discussion about companies moving their email systems from in-house operations to a cloud application--in other words, to a hosted platform on a remote server or data center. Much of the talk ... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Apr 21, 2010, 6:00 am
How to improve data security and privacy.
A Pennsylvania school district made headlines recently with accusations that two of the district's IT employees were spying on students and took "thousands" of pictures of students in their homes without their knowledge, using the cameras in their s... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Apr 8, 2010, 10:49 am
I attended the Texas Technology Summit yesterday and one of the speakers was David Guthrie, CTO of PGi. David gave a great presentation on "IT Innovations: What is the Future?"
He included the following YouTube video in the presentation which is rather thought provoking. With over 1.7 millio... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Apr 7, 2010, 6:00 am
A positive online reputation is important for both individuals and companies
We've all heard the stories of Joe, a job candidate who was a shoo-in to get that great job until the hiring manager decided to take a look at the candidate's Facebook page. Suddenly some photos of a wild party ... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Mar 24, 2010, 6:00 am
Why going offline for a day isn't the answer.
I just returned from an extended business trip in Europe. While there, I had the opportunity to stay in some interesting hotels, including a renovated castle from the 15th century. The flashback in time gave me a jolting perspective on just how m... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Mar 3, 2010, 6:00 am
CIOs and IT leaders need to promote social media or risk becoming marginalized.
I recently attended a panel discussion of four CIOs put on by a major IT research firm and found the exchange on social media interesting. In addition to the CIO of the research firm, there was representation by both ... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Feb 17, 2010, 9:35 am
Ultimately, IT is responsible for security breaches even if it's not at fault.
Late last year, Plano, Texas-based Hillary Machinery lost $800,000 to cyber theft when attackers stole the money in a series of transfers from Hillary's PlainsCapital bank account. PlainsCapital was subs... Comment - Like
Michael S. posted an article on
Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
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Feb 3, 2010, 6:39 am
The company needs to focus more on solid marketing and product development.
Apple's long anticipated launch of the iPad became a rather interesting twist in the Apple/Steve Jobs saga, and it may signal a shift in the future of Apple.
After all the hype and hysteria of the iPhone roll-outs... Comment - Like
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