Process & Change vs. Sarbanes-Oxley

Sarbanes-Oxley is meant to ensure companies are responsible to the shareholders and that checks and balances are in place to prevent fraud, etc. ITIL is meant to stabilize the IT organisation ensuring reportability and reliability.

I am a firm believer in process. I also have a decent respect for change management and the stability that adds to an organisation's infrastructure and applications. It seems that even though a number of organisations are experiencing a latex-gloved exposure to SOX, they're not learning about ITIL or understanding the impact of a mid-day change. The real problem it seems is that when a cowboy is in a management position, a technical manager, the risk is that they will implement at will. They will implement regardless of the rules and observed best practices of the organisation.

One such folley was the recent change to a corporate WAN that allowed all sites to see all other sites and the resulting traffic was such that at 9:30AM, the networks slowed to a crawl and the plethora of Active Directory servers started chattering. An unwise move to say the least.

It's this sort of hap-hazard management that should be eyed with concern.

A good business has several tools that ensures it functions well, people being the foundation of that. The people hired must embrace the tools and use them wisely to ensure business success with efficiency. The tools I am referrign to are Documentation, Processes, and Systems.

Systems are the hardware, and software that make up the means by which to run the business. This is a combination of infrastucture and applications that serve the staff in fulfilling thier duties and the reliability of these systems is critical. The Processes that are used by business are the standardized methods and manners in which the business is run. It is much like a how-to or manual, but any process that is not documented is prone to change and variance from the standard. This is why Documentation is the key to keeping all of this wrapped together and prevents or removes chance from any person, new or old, making an error because they failed to follow process.

Large-scale operations departments strive for excellence in maintaining systems by counting errors that occur when an operator follows a process. The count can be below 5 for a year in a well-run shop, but effective documentation can push this towards zero.

Processes are as much a path as a rule, but rules do need tuning. Just as in the Systems themselves Changes are welcomed when properly considered, often through a committee or Change Advisory Board (CAB). This is essential, and changes outside of the designated Change Window are only under break-fix or very special circumstances. This is defined well by ITIL, but in truth this is common sense. Those who object are likely developers or cowboys, but this is not meant to offend. A developer (web for example) is often expected to maintain a site and make changes daily, hourly, or more. While this is not signficant for content normally, for fundamental changes or business applications a Change Window helps ensure the application is available when it is needed and outages are planned in a timeframe to minimize the impact on the customer/business.

References:
ITIL, Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Disposable Society

It is remarkable how much we throw away. Whether it's packaging for the products we buy, the weekly or semi-weekly newspaper that arrives at our door, the plethora of junk mail, or the technology we buy, the curse of disposable goods is unfathomable.

It's not so unfathomable if you take a drive towards Michigan, the endless line of trucks hauling Toronto's garbage is a legacy of waste and our disposible nature.

In many cases it's not the cost of the item that makes it disposible, it's the cost of the maintenance. How many of you have been dumbfounded by the cost of replacement cartridges for yout inkjet printer? The ink cartridges cost as much as the printers, if not more. The inkjet manufacturers don't want you to refill the cartridges because of sales, nozzle lifetimes, and/or degraded quality, but this would be the green thing to do would it not?

I recently retired a 10 year old inkjet for a new printer, the printer cost me $50, the ink will cost me $60 when I need to replentish it. Hmmm. The funny thing is I was after a $40 printer that had a ink replacement cost of $40, but it was sold out. We'll see how this goes but I want to stick with this printer for at least 5 years.

Sometimes it's the packaging for a product that creates a waste, all for the sake of presenting itself better to the consumer, that last silence bastion of marketing is discarded when the CD we bought for the anti-virus software is 10% of the entire package. Even the packaging around that kids toy is enough to make another toy out of.

When will this end?

We can even consider the groceries we buy and how they are packaged, I have recently started buying more selectively, smaller quanities in better packaging. I moved from throwing out 2-3 kitchen bags a week, to 1. ONE! FOR THE WHOLE HOUSE!

Admittedly there were other factors to the number of bags that went to the curb. I was living with a cat person. The newsprint-based kitty litter, and her manner of replacing and replentishing it, add 4-5 full kitchen-bags of waste to the mix. How is this better for the environment? Okay, the newpaper has a second use, but this is ridiculous!

I can keep a PC functional for a decade easy. I'm recycling a circa 1998 PC right now as a temporary replacement for a neighbour's PC that died due to faulty capacitors. It's not as fast but it'll do well for the moment. I'm reviving an even older PC for strict Internet (web) use too. Is this the answer? It is for now.

I have 2 more PCs to re-purpose. it's a tough sell, though one may end up an end table, that's still re-use and definately not land-fill.

REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE... Think!

I didn't say it was just, it is simply right.

"My view is that the gazillionaire monopolistic
Gates can afford to lose a bit for a little kid to get access
to a computer. But then, [this is] just my view."

These are the words of someone I know. I consider them a friend and while I'm happy to do work for them, the reality is that my position on piracy - that I won't contribute to it - could cost me a connection or an opportunity to earn a living.

The view portrayed by the words "gazillionaire monopolistic Gates" fails to recognise those that built, shipped, and supported the various releases of Microsoft Windows. Mr. Gates was the coach, but the players are very much deserving. I was once a player, my friends are still players and as a developer myself I'm getting a little sick of this "poor me" excuse for theft.

Another friend of mine pointed out to the developer community that Windows has given a good number of us jobs. Perhaps we need to look around at the other manners in which this "billionaire brat" has made the world a better place. I've met the man and while he is many things, I don't see a need to call him names. His is BillG, Mr. Gates, and yes, Mr. Windows. he also a person who made very smart moved in a capitalist framework and his company is being held up as a big evil empire. There is absolutely nothing evil about Microsoft, just the occational idiot who works there, and we all know idiots that work anywhere.

Window was nothing more than a blip on the radar in 1989, Windows/x86 was the thing you ran if you wanted to run Microsoft Office. It was just taking hold in the business world and the release of Windows 3.x was the turning point. I started at Microsoft the day before it launched and stayed for nearly 7 years. I look back at the growth of Windows, the applications, and the demands people have put on what has become a very strong and reliable Operating System. As much as the Linux biggots will scream at me for suggesting Windows is a stable OS, it is when you have a reliable piece of hardware and good software, you're set.

Okay, that argument aside, let's try this. Any of you people that feel that pirating Windows, or any software, is justified... RUN LINUX. Just try to do what you want to do in Linux. It is doable, no question, you might need to learn a whole host of other methods and technical crap to get things done, but if you want "free" then try it. Go run Linux! If you're non-technical, you'll be back.

I acknowledge that Linux is getting better, stronger for the desktop, and is a very good choice for the server-side of computing. It is still not "ideal" for the end-user. The validity of Linux is not my argument here, the argument is that people want software and don't want to pay. If you used this logic on hardware it would be called theft. What are you teaching your children if you buy them a computer with stolen software on it?

As for this friend of mine, she's made her point and while I'm normally forgiving, as she's decided to ask for someone else's help, someone with less integrity and more willingness to help her break the law. I think this is the point at which I turn the other cheek and walk the other way. I wonder if she'll ever understand, I hope she does. As for my business relationship with her, that's done.

She is not the only person to say this. She is one of many people I know that are willfully pirating software, movies, and music for the simple reason of want. She wants to install Windows 2000 on her son's new computer, it has no OS. His loss is not the use of a computer, he has another. He's losing access to a system he can PLAY GAMES ON! Frankly if you can't afford the gas, don't buy the car!

Mac vs. PC, the ongoing battle.

While I'm not adverse to the use and proliferation of the Apple Macintosh, the recent flurry of ads are reminicent of the Pepsi vs. Coke ads we've grown to... well... they just are. I am NOT a fan of confrontational "We're better than you, because you suck" advertising.

Apple's accusations are false or at least biased in their portrayal of the Windows-based PC. They downplay the capabilities that Windows has had for a very long time. They try to hold onto their known skills, neglecting their new found skills in being asymulated onto the Intel processor. The OS is solid and they do have a very clear style in both the exterior and the OS, though Windows is comparable.

There's no reason not to buy a Windows PC. However, there are deminishing reasons why you may not want to buy a Macintosh. For kids, there are fewer "natively Mac" games, while there are methods to get the newest Macs to run Windows, this is much more effort than simply buying a Windows PC. The foray these machines have owned is graphic arts, video, and music. They still own this, though the Windows platform is progessing nicely. Windows Movie maker is a decent application, though I'm a bigger fan of Quicktime Pro for Windows when it comes to quality, even on the competing platform.

I will never buy a Sony

It has came to my attention, as a former Sony supporter, that Sony has a bad habit of dropping products and being highly proprietary in thier offerings. Whether it's the short lifespan of their PC/laptop product models, the tempermental support of the CLIÉ, they just can't seem to stay behind their work.

While they have great stuff, longevity is critical to me. I decline to buy Sony.

Piracy: If Bill does it, it must be ok!

It seems that Bill Gates himself is a fan of piracy. He supports it just like millions of other people through the use of sites like YouTube.

Now this is far more difficult to stop than even movies, software, or music on hard media, this is out in the open, share with everyone, piracy.

Its easy to get, impossible to pay for and pointless to report. If Bill, the richest guy I've ever met, enjoys it, why the heck am i trying to stop piracy around me?

Modders and Tuners: How are they different?

Part of being a good judge is understanding the opinions held by both sides in a situation and, within the rules of law and precidence, providing a viable decision that is fair and unbiased. While I am no judge in the legal sense, my perception regarding the fairness of a law or claim may be swayed or changed by understanding the views of the claimant and the defendant.

This statement is true for everything I write about, if you disagree with me, come up with a viable argument and evidence to support your claim and I'll listen.

Now, what's on my mind is the act of modifying a console by, or for, an end-user. For example the XBOX, as released was a formidable console gaming using with potential DVD capabilities (you'd need to buy the remote). A few resourceful individuals, and some companies have created modifications (mods) to install into the XBOX that allow for a wider range of function and changes to not only the console's functionality, but some game functionality. This is where the concern begins.

A novice might liken the upgrade to what a car enthusiast does to a car. The tuner will add performance parts and such to improve the functionality of the vehicle in the area of speed, access, comfort, entertainment, or cosmetics. This is legal unless the car is used for street racing, but legal otherwise (for now). How is it somehow wrong for to mod an XBOX then?

The difference is that the code in the XBOX is designed to work in a particular manner. It was authored to serve a strict design to ensure the best game functionality and limited (i.e. no DVD without buying the Remote) to preserve licensing. We're not talking about adding a muffler or lowering your suspension, though some mods will void the car's manufacturer warranty. Some gamers go so far as to modify the software that runs on the XBOX (as it has been stored on the hard disk) so it behaves differently and while this is creative it is changing the design without the author's permission.

Personal Use... If an end-user does this for himself there's very little impact. Aside from the annoyance to others for a ridiculous mod that creates an unfair advantage, but this is no longer just personal use, it's effecting others. This would be much like the modified car, with a resonator on the exhaust, driving down your street.

So, it is wrong to mod? Yes, technically. Is it stoppable, not so far. Is it that different from tuning your car? No. It really comes down to your use of the customization and whether you have respect for others.