tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91156446058333841382024-03-13T21:16:17.380+01:00X de XavierUnos y ceros. A veces, en el orden adecuado.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-21206307662772790282009-11-13T16:10:00.007+01:002009-11-13T17:27:47.092+01:00ChangesChanges, changes, changes... Please, do not tell my mum about them, because she would be very upset with me!<div><br /></div><div>Last July I took a <b>two years leave from IBM</b>. In a very smart move (in my opinion), IBM is paying me a third of my salary during a period that is forecasted to be of low business. I am allowed to work (and I need to!), but, obviously, I cannot work for IBM's competitors. They are investing this money to get a re-energized employee or, if the employee doesn't go back, to have him leave without having to lay him off, saving quite a bit of money.</div><div><br /></div><div>I plan to take advantage of this by doing lots of learning and following some long time interests that I was performing on top of my formal role of at IBM: <b>dealing/trying to make sense of organizations and teaching</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>So what have I being doing during this months? Besides lots of reading and learning, <a href="http://www.ganyet.com/lifestream">Ganyet</a>, <a href="http://www.vortexvisual.com/?page_id=2">Banzy</a> and I toyed with the idea of working together in super-secret super-cool project, but, after a few weeks, I did not find a way to fit my skills into their needs; it is a pity, because world domination is in their road map.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I left university, I should have made a project to become officially an engineer. I then joined IBM, and I was not disciplined enough to spend my free time finishing the project that I just started before joining. Almost 20 years later, I'm fixing that. And I'm very excited about it, because my project is about the software that should help to <b>build a community around </b><a href="http://www.1x1microcredit.org/"><b>1x1microcredit.org</b></a>, a peer-to-peer micro-lending website that will offers people the possibility to lend money at low interest rates to poor people so that they can escape poverty, just like <a href="http://www.kiva.org/">kiva.org</a>. PHP aside, I feel very lucky for being able to work in a project that is technically cool and has an even cooler goal.</div>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-17432009706251968372009-09-16T06:27:00.002+01:002009-09-16T06:34:27.793+01:00Smarter Work: Why Social Networks Matter<a href="http://sachachua.com/wp/2009/09/15/brainstorming-around-smart-work/">Sacha Chua rocks, as usual</a><br /><br /><div style="width:425px;text-align:left" id="__ss_2004030"><a style="font:14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;display:block;margin:12px 0 3px 0;text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/sachac/smarter-work-why-social-networks-matter" title="Smarter Work: Why Social Networks Matter">Smarter Work: Why Social Networks Matter</a><object style="margin:0px" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=20090915-smartwork-090915222031-phpapp01&stripped_title=smarter-work-why-social-networks-matter"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=20090915-smartwork-090915222031-phpapp01&stripped_title=smarter-work-why-social-networks-matter" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><div style="font-size:11px;font-family:tahoma,arial;height:26px;padding-top:2px;">View more <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/">documents</a> from <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/sachac">Sacha Chua</a>.</div></div>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-91512442517914867872008-12-03T09:45:00.000+01:002008-12-03T09:45:27.261+01:00MacacosAyer envié esto, en relación a mi actuación como enlace con el equipo de soporte de un producto del que no sé casi nada, en la que últimamente me limito a esperar órdenes de gente que está en una zona horaria equivocada:<br /><blockquote>Entiendo que el problema está en un punto en el que yo aporto poco más que un macaco al teclado</blockquote>Si hay suerte, hoy le pasaré los trastos a un chimpancé y podré dedicarme a cosas más interesantes. Deberé enseñarle a Pobre Chimpancé algunas cosas que he aprendido cuando he sido yo el que daba soporte:<br /><ul><li>que hay que ser paciente y no irritarse cuando te preguntan por séptima vez la misma cosa: no es nada personal.</li><li>que entre lo que digan los logs y lo que digas tú, soporte no dudará en creer lo que dicen los logs. Y te preguntarán una octava vez.<br /></li></ul>¡Oh, queridos ex-clientes! ¡Estos días he comprendido a qué torturas os he sometido durante tantos años!-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-62182824760077592532008-11-30T22:56:00.005+01:002008-12-01T00:04:15.888+01:00Exhibición impúdicaEsta semana me han dado varias pastillas de Egolín en forma de cosas agradables sobre mi que alguien le ha dicho a otra persona. Y, con toda la inmodestia, las transcribo<br /><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Tu padre mola</span>. Se lo ha dicho a G. un compañero de cole, supongo que sorprendido de que un adulto recuerde que tiene piernas y las use para hacer carreras por el parque.<br /></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Xavier's assistance on this issue was most appreciated</span>, en relación a una actuación de bombero en un cliente.</li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Xavier a fait un excellent travail en décrivant les étapes du project (...) Xavier est un excellent professionnel</span>.</li></ul>Y como, a pesar de un buen principio, no ha sido una semana brillante en todos los frentes, ¡no me ha ido mal enterarme!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Actualización</span>: aunque esta me la han dicho directamente, también ha sido una deliciosa pastilla de Egolín: <span style="font-style: italic;">Una de las primeras personas a las que acudo cuando tengo problemas de código y me quedo bloqueado. Y una de las más desinteresadas y resolutivas. Gracias.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xverges/3064726062/" title="Pastillas naranjas by -Xv, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/3064726062_f4f1eea360.jpg" alt="Pastillas naranjas" width="400" /></a>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-39690952712862145292008-11-19T12:06:00.004+01:002008-11-19T12:37:00.896+01:00ABCs of z/OS System ProgrammingOne of the side effects of <a href="http://xdexavier.blogspot.com/2008/11/certificate-based-logon-to-zos.html">my recent research</a> has been to learn that the famous <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ABCs</span> of System Programming</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">redbooks</span> have been updated and have gone from 5 volumes to... 11!!<br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/XavierVerges/status/1009933178">I've been browsing</a> <a href="http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246986.html">Volume 6: Security on z/OS, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">RACF</span>, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">LDAP</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Kerberos</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">PKI</span>. Cryptography and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">EIM</span>.</a> and it has been quite useful (though, in fact, it did not point me where I needed to go). Not all the volumes have been published as today. The pages for all the volumes list them all.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246981.html">Link to volume 1</a>. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></li><li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/cgi-bin/searchsite.cgi?query=abcs&SearchOrder=4&SearchFuzzy=">Link to a search that should list all that have been published</a>.</li></ul>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-4793036752745954102008-11-19T10:56:00.003+01:002008-11-19T11:46:51.502+01:00Certificate-based logon to zOSDCAS (zOS Communications Server's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Digital Certificate Access Server</span>) has come to my rescue. <a href="http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/zos/v1r9/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.zos.r9.halg001/f1a1f230282.htm">From the docs</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>The DCAS can be used by providers of logon and single sign-on services where access to z/OS-based applications is needed. The DCAS is a TCP/IP server that enables clients to connect over the network and obtain a passticket and z/OS user ID from RACF.<br /><br />Clients that connect to DCAS must use the SSL protocol (DCAS supports SSL Version 3). Client authentication is performed.<br /><br />Clients can request a user ID and passticket for an application. The client sends an x.509 certificate. DCAS converts the x.509 certificate to a valid user ID, which is returned. The x.509 certificate must have been mapped to a valid user ID in RACF </blockquote>It's the second time in a few months that DCAS is the solution to the problem that I'm working on; unfortunately, I had forgotten about the first time, so it has taken my a while to get rescued. Not a complete waste of time: if learned a few things about PKI and RACF.<br /><br />The first time it was about a service to generate passtickets (strings that can be used as passwords for a short while). Despite my recommendation, the customer's choice was to not use DCAS and code it from scratch; go figure.<br /><br />Now it is about authenticating to RACF from a application that uses a smartcard reader. I'm looking forward to code the smartcard-based RACF logon, since working with smartcards has been in my wish list for very long.<br /><br />And since google and DCAS don't seem to be big friends, I'm posting this.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-29298062251797530242008-11-08T07:30:00.002+01:002008-11-08T07:53:34.592+01:00Got no desk :-(<div style="padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70148893@N00/3010520705/" title="Got no desk :-("><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3139/3010520705_b6225bc346.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 400px;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70148893@N00/3010520705/">Got no desk :-(</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/70148893@N00/">-Xv</a>.</span></div><p>My very own ibm desk is gone... No place to hang C's drawings, to keep my pencils (I really just care about the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70148893@N00/3011547183/">one</a> that was a present from C.), the books I'm reading... I'll also miss sitting by my former team mates after so many years...</p><p>But I really cannot complain: I'm working very often from home now, so it makes little business sense to have a dedicated empty desk at the office.<br /></p>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-85141631328936776072008-08-09T00:37:00.003+01:002008-08-09T01:06:33.791+01:00Verbose business cards<a href="http://twitter.com/kellypuffs/statuses/881734310">Learned</a> from <a href="http://kellypuffs.wordpress.com/">Kellypuffs</a> that linkedin users can get <a href="http://www.moo.com/linkedin/">50 free MOO cards</a>. Enter <a href="http://mrfeinberg.com/">Jonathan Feinberg</a>'s <a href="http://wordle.net/">Wordle</a> (and a bit of javascript).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70148893@N00/2745494200/" title="Wordle for business cards by -Xv, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/2745494200_71cfeb96ae.jpg" height="270" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70148893@N00/2744656971/" title="Wordle for business cards by -Xv, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/2744656971_090fdffb5d.jpg" height="241" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70148893@N00/2744657495/" title="Wordle for business cards by -Xv, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/2744657495_db55594008.jpg" height="296" width="500" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70148893@N00/2744657227/" title="Wordle for business cards by -Xv, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/2744657227_13d314e37f.jpg" height="297" width="500" /></a>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-79463940684411253212008-05-15T11:18:00.003+01:002008-05-15T11:43:55.337+01:00Children are viruses<blockquote>I'd love to run without anti-virus and anti-spyware, but children (especially teenagers) are incredibly adept at filling any PC with trojans and viruses in a matter of minutes. They even know how to bypass most internet filter software. I sometimes think children are viruses!</blockquote><br />Seen on <a href="http://pages.citebite.com/k5h0f1x6kybq">a comment</a> on a <a href="http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000803.html">Coding Horror post about the performance hit of antivirus software</a> (<span style="font-style: italic;">what we really need is Anti-Anti-Virus software to keep us safe from the ongoing Anti-Virus software pandemic</span>).<br /><br /><a href="http://myappsecurity.blogspot.com/2007/04/reflection-on-ory-segal.html">Ory Segal</a> (an IBMer after <a href="http://www.watchfire.com/">watchfire</a>'s acquisition) also <a href="http://blog.watchfire.com/wfblog/2008/01/celebrating-20.html">"celebrates" 20 years of anti-virus software</a>.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-53977529428468077402007-10-30T20:41:00.000+01:002007-10-30T21:03:49.446+01:00SiSi (Say It Sign It): Voice to Sign Language<object height="326" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RarMKnjqzZU"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RarMKnjqzZU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="326" width="400"></embed></object><br />Ain't that cool? I hope it goes past the demo stage in a near future!<br /><a href="http://www.lauracowen.co.uk/blog/2007/09/29/70/">Interesting info and links in a post by Laura Cowen</a>.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-86415959236402912562007-10-06T20:25:00.000+01:002007-10-06T21:39:11.262+01:00Jazz in the hood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jazz.net/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_T679aggANRU/RwfjSDzZQRI/AAAAAAAAACs/kZxgxQHhTNo/s320/jazz.png" alt="Jazz band playing" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118309400927879442" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://martin-espinach.neurona.com/">Martin Espinach</a>, coffee machine and lunch mate, gave yesterday a very nice internal talk about how his previous project used <a href="http://www.bugzilla.org/">bugzilla</a> and <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/">Mylyn</a> to help them plan, assign and track team tasks. Although they were initially excited about Mylyn's task-focused UI, none of the team members ended up using it; they did love Mylyn's ability to get notifications from bugzilla. It looked like a neat solution.<br /><br />When his very detailed talk was almost done, he told us that, for their recently started new project, they are using <a href="http://jazz.net">IBM Rational Jazz</a>. I felt like killing him, but I then I would have missed the chance to complain about his talk during every afternoon coffee in the next weeks.<br /><br />And Jazz? So far, they are loving it. I'll have to ask him to demo it to our team.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-48657567271202332262007-05-16T23:22:00.000+01:002007-05-16T22:29:27.496+01:00Coding Contest in Second LifeJust good an email from <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/christophsteindl">Christoph Steindl</a>, a former IBM colleague, where he used to co-lead the Agile@IBM community and write an excellent blog.<br /><br />Are you familiar with the Coding Wars in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0932633439?ie=UTF8&tag=xdexavie-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0932633439">Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister's Peopleware</a>?<img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=xdexavie-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0932633439" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> Christoph is into something similar: the cool <a href="http://catalysts.cc/index.php?id=contest">Catalysts' Coding Contest (CCC)</a> that his company is running:<br /><blockquote><ul><li>Who is faster? Who is more efficient? Who is more effective? Who is more productive?</li><li>Does "Pair Programming" really make you faster?</li><li>Does "Test-Driven Development" really lead to fewer bugs?</li><li>How many ways are there to solve a problem?</li><li>Is it right that good developers only write 30 lines of code for which mediocre developers need to write 300 lines?<br /></li></ul><a href="http://catalysts.cc/">Catalysts</a> organizes a coding contest to go further into some of these questions. </blockquote>They will be running the contest in Linz, Austria (with post food and beverages) and in Second Life (do avatars drink and eat?).<br /><br />Looks like a bright idea to me. I bet that having participants with different backgrounds, and letting anonymous participation will provide coders and organizers useful insight. I don't know if other companies do this sort of thing internally, but it looks like very interesting way to get information, a honest measurement <a href="http://www.transformingperformancemeasurement.com/">not linked to rewards and punishments</a> (note to self: bring this to IBM's internal <a href="http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/thinkplace/">ThinkPlace</a>).<br /><br />I'm even considering ignoring my usual too-busy-with-real-life-to-get-me-a-second-life to be able to <a href="http://catalysts.cc/index.php?id=525&L=0">participate via Second Life</a>.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-64785405930840091212007-05-15T20:53:00.000+01:002007-05-15T19:56:36.345+01:00Disappointed by "The No Asshole Rule"<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1847440002?ie=UTF8&tag=xdexavie-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1847440002"><br /><img src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/11K2YXPJH9L._AA_.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=xdexavie-21&l=as2&o=2&a=1847440002" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br />Not that I'm disappointed by the concept of having zero-tolerance attitude towards assholes, but by <a href="http://bobsutton.typepad.com/">Bob Sutton</a>'s book on it: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1847440002?ie=UTF8&tag=xdexavie-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1847440002">The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilised Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=xdexavie-21&l=as2&o=2&a=1847440002" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" />. The back cover promised <span style="font-style: italic;">hilarious examples</span> in <span style="font-style: italic;">a funny, defiant little book</span>. An enjoyable <a href="http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/10/you_have_to_lov.html">review by Guy Kawasaki</a> and lots of good ratings in Amazon also made it look like a good read. And I have this dear friend working at Jerk Avenue, and I sort of hoped getting something for her. But the book, aside from making me take a little time to reflect a bit about my own episodes as an asshole [1][2], was just boring.<br /><br />Maybe the problem is that before the first page I was already in agreement with the author, and I did not need the additional 170 pages. Or that I'm lucky enough of not having had to deal with assholes at work in quite a while. Or that I'm not involved in hiring any team. Or that I'm not a certified asshole.<br /><br />Bob Sutton has done a very nice service making explicit the No Asshole Rule [3] and bringing focus to it. But I just did not need that many asshole stories and that much evidence about its virtues.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">[1] A surprising book in improving my self asshole-ness awareness was </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0141030062?ie=UTF8&tag=xdexavie-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0141030062">Leadership and Self-deception: Getting Out of the Box</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=xdexavie-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0141030062" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">(<a href="http://w3.ibm.com/education/protect/CGRedirectorServlet.wss?request_name=services_BooksAction&bkid=1908">link for IBMers</a>)</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">I'm pasting a comment I made on <a href="http://rooreynolds.com/2006/12/04/reading-list/">Roo Reynolds blog</a>, who said about it, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >"it made me think about the nature of selfishness. Not every book does that":</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Your minimalist recommendation has made me read Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box . Thanks for that. I liked the storytelling approach, and, as "advertised" by you, it is really making me think. A lot.<br /><br />My 2c for anyone else feeling tempted by the book: it is a book for anyone dealing with humans, no matter if the leadership stuff has any appeal to you.</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">[2] All this writing about my asshole-ness may convey the impression that I'm a jerk. My mum and I think that I'm quite nice. But the asshole path is always there...<br />[3] If you want the No Asshole Rule enforced, you can <a href="http://kellypuffs.wordpress.com/2007/05/09/vote-for-kellypuffs/">vote for Kellypuffs</a> if you ever find that she is running for some election.</span>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-68206727161766862782007-04-28T00:50:00.000+01:002007-04-28T16:58:34.997+01:00Democratizing visualizationI learned today about IBM Research's <a href="http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/app">Many Eyes</a>, available at <a href="http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/">alphaWorks</a>. Although at first sight it seems simply a nice tool to create nice visualizations, its goal is to enable collaboration around visualizations.<br /><br />In <a href="http://www.research.ibm.com/visual/fernanda.html">Fernanda B. Viégas</a>' <a href="http://blog.many-eyes.com/2007/01/31/democratizing-visualization/">words</a>, the intend is <span style="font-style: italic;">"to enable people to collectively reason about the trends and patterns they see on the vivid representations of data called visualizations"</span>, or <span style="font-style: italic;">"distributed data analysis and <span style="font-weight: bold;">collaborative sensemaking</span>"</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/app"><img style="margin: 0px; display: block; cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" src="http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/images2/title.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />How? You can upload data sets. You can create visualizations of them. You can discuss the visualizations, <a href="http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/Sk1zvEsOtha6XGE-SiR0F2-">highlighting</a> <a href="http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SGXXRFsOtha6X2lZVhPjF2-">parts</a> of them.<br /><br />You are not sold into the power of good visualizations? Check out <a href="http://roslingsblogger.blogspot.com/">Hans Rosling</a>'s <a href="http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92">Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen</a> TEDTalk (aka <span style="font-style: italic;">No More Boring Data</span>, as posted on youtube). Or play with a tool similar to the one that he uses in the presentation, at <a href="http://tools.google.com/gapminder">http://tools.google.com/gapminder</a>.<br /><br />And whatever you think about Many Eyes, Hans Rosling, logarithms or baseball, do go and check <a href="http://www.ted.com/index.php">the improved TED site</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update:</span> It seems that Many Eyes is not the only project in this area. From an <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ibm_many_eyes_after_one_month.php">article</a> by Fernanda and <a href="http://www.research.ibm.com/visual/martin.html">Martin Wattenberg</a>,<br /><blockquote>We think that <span style="font-weight: bold;">social data analysis</span> is a lively area right now and we are not the only ones exploring this space - two other sites of note are <a href="http://www.swivel.com/">Swivel</a> and <a href="http://www.data360.org/">Data360</a>. Each of the 3 sites has a different emphasis, but what we have in common is a belief that the web enables a new, social kind of data analysis; a type of statistical thinking that is both playful and serious.</blockquote>Social Data Analysis. Nice term.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-29106297620819275512007-03-30T11:30:00.000+01:002007-03-30T11:40:57.561+01:00Customer Satisfaction and future buying decisions<blockquote>It has been shown that as many as 90 percent of departing customers said that they were "satisfied" immediately prior to their attrition! Contrary to long-held misconceptions, "customer satisfaction" is actually a good measure of "customers' rationalizations of their past buying decisions," but not highly predictive of future buying decisions.</blockquote><br />As a consumer, I think that this matches my buying patterns.<br /><br />The quote is from <a href="http://www.transformingperformancemeasurement.com/">Transforming Performance Measurement</a>, by Dean Spitzer, a nice book even/specially for someone (like me) that tends to hate measurements and metrics. Dean is senior researcher, consultant, and performance measurement thought leader in IBM Research.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-88440863142272724112007-03-21T16:08:00.000+01:002007-03-21T16:22:00.164+01:00Play with ClearQuest and ClearCase without installing themI've been playing with IBM Rational ClearQuest and ClearCase without doing any configuration. Cool. I'm hoping that we'll do the same for more IBM Rational products.<br /><br />You can access a dW server with a tutorial environment setup using a Citrix client. Go to <a href="http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/r/rcc/">Trial: Rational ClearCase V7.0</a> (I just reported it, but, in case that you take the first tutorial, you'll see that the screenshots of the first part don't match the actual product: you'll have to "connect" instead of "login", and you better know that pat's password is pat and that she has the lead project role).-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-15240940549916005812007-03-13T10:01:00.001+01:002008-10-08T23:48:50.916+01:00On using dead chickens for problem determination<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/input/114134044/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/34/114134044_bd962873e5_m_d.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My friend <a href="http://lucalvago.blogspot.com/">Luis</a> comes back to the office in state of shock. He has been at a client's, along with two people from two other supplier companies that will go unnamed.<br /><br />They are trying to determine why an application with code from the three parties is crashing. Luis is amazed while the experts invoke the crashing code while turning over their heads a dead chicken clockwise, check the output of filemon and regmon, repeat the process turning the chicken counter-clockwise, and perform another half an hour of equally insightful tests. Based on the evidence collected while changing the chicken's turning speed, the experts conclude that's IBM's code fault and they want to rush to tell the customer about it.<br /><br />Luis takes a while to digest these new problem determination techniques, and, when he is able to recover his ability to speak, suggests taking a look at the logs from <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308538">Doctor Watson</a>; the experts are amazed by the tool; the logs show that the dead-chicken-based finger pointing is very unlikely to be right.<br /><br />The experts grab their huge flemon and regmon outputs, the drwtson32 logs and their dead chickens and leave. It takes us a while to get Luis back to unpuzzled mode.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.retrobill.com/store.htm#chicken"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.retrobill.com/images/ventura1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-83332152282985503712007-03-06T08:26:00.000+01:002007-03-06T08:33:02.415+01:00Hormigas artificiales<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/Atomant2.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 100px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/Atomant2.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>Las hormigas artificiales no son el último gadget que un snob atento necesita tener en casa (<a href="http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/ants/">¿o si?</a>). La <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vida_artificial">vida artificial</a> consiste en utilizar modelos de simulación para estudiar sistemas complejos. No es que yo sepa sobre esto, pero hoy me he acordado [1] de una conferencia fantástica sobre hormigas artificiales a la que asistí hace años.<br /><br />Las hormigas simuladas son simplonas, como probablemente lo son las de carne y hueso (?): van a por comida, comen un poquito, y llevan el resto al hormiguero. Si encuentran en su camino a otra hormiga, procurando el bien de la colonia, le cuentan dónde han encontrado comida.<br /><br />Pero, ¡ay!, no todas las hormigas son genéticamente iguales: algunas son de fiar, mientras que otras son unas mentirosas que engañan a sus compañeras para que no se zampen la comida que han encontrado; unas son crédulas, y otras desconfiadas; unas, trabajadoras, mientras que otras deberían haber nacido cigarras; algunas se olvidan de la posición de la comida más facilmente que otras... Mueren, y nacen nuevas hormigas con su propia carga genética que define su grado de actividad, memoria, escepticismo y tendencia a mentir.<br /><br />Ponemos a nuestras hormiguitas en su hormiguero, definimos la cantidad de comida disponible y las dejamos vivir (?). Independientemente de la disponibilidad de comidad, con el paso del tiempo son mayoría las hormigas con mayor actividad y memoria: las perezosas y las desmemoriadas tienen más complicado comer y sobrevivir.<br /><br />Cuando la comida es escasa, las hormigas compiten, y mentirosos y escépticos tienen mayor probabilidad de sobrevivir. Cuando la comida es abundante, mentirosos y escépticos desaparecen de la colonia.<br /><br />Fascinado pensando en cómo de las interacciones de muchas cosas simples surgen cosas complejas, y sin saber encontrar una moraleja en relación a la falsedad y el escepticísmo de las hormigas, acabo ya para ver si ahora funciona esta <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/kids-only/naturecams/antcam/antcam-more-info.html">webcam de un hormiguero</a>...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ii.uam.es/%7Ealfonsec/"><img style="cursor: pointer; float: left; width: 200px;" src="http://www.encuentros-multidisciplinares.org/GALERIA%20DE%20FOTOS/N%C2%BA7/Manuel%20Alfonseca%20Moreno.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">[1] </span>Esta conferencia, una de las mejores a las que he asistido en mi vida, la dió <a href="http://www.ii.uam.es/%7Ealfonsec/">Manuel Alfonseca</a>, de la Autónoma de Madrid, ex de IBM, y miembro émerito del Technical Experts Council de IBM. Hoy M. Alfonseca tenía una Carta al Director publicada en La Vanguardia, y ver su nombre me ha llenado la cabeza y este post de hormigas. En su carta, discute la afirmación de <a href="http://www.barcelona2004.org/eng/banco_del_conocimiento/personajes/ficha.cfm?cod_personaje=3886">Arcadi Navarro</a> en un artículo anterior: "<span style="font-style: italic;">solamente por la ignorancia o la práctica consumada del autoengaño pueden creerse compatibles el evolucionismo y el diseño inteligente</span>".<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[2] </span>¡Puaj! Hoy sufro un caso flagrante de tantas ganas de leer (¡e incluso de volver a la universdad!) y tan poco tiempo... Algunos links:<br /><ul><li>Una <a href="http://astreo.ii.uam.es/%7Ealfonso/doctorado_modelos_02/4_agentes_s2.pdf">presentación en pdf</a> que he leído en diagonal y que me ha servido para recordar algunas de las cosas que explicó M. Fonseca.</li><li>International Society for Artificial Life: <a href="http://www.alife.org/">http://www.alife.org</a></li><li><a href="http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS.html">Journal Of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation</a>. Entre lo más leido del mes hay <a href="http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/9/2/1.html">un artículo</a> sobre ¡la simulación de las votaciones de Eurovisión!</li><li><a href="http://www.ii.uam.es/%7Ejlara/investigacion/ecomm/otros/canti.html">Algunas simulaciones</a>, en applets Java, de Alfonesca et alt.<br /></li></ul>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-90193153780457273572007-02-16T20:08:00.000+01:002007-02-16T20:11:44.234+01:00Quick and Easily Done Mashups + SOA and web 2.0<a href="http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/qedwiki/">QEDWiki</a>, a mashup maker by IBM, has got a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63qIq9t9Gqs">nice intro and demo on video</a>. If you liked it, better keep an eye on the <a href="http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/etech">Emerging Technologies You Need to Know</a> !<br /><br />Mahups and Mashup makers are an obvious way to show the value of service orientation. As the video states, <span style="font-style: italic;">Web 2.0 puts a face on SOA.<br /></span><br />(via <a href="http://www.rodenas.org/blog/2007/02/08/alphaworks-create-mash-ups-with-qedwiki/">Ferran Rodenas' SDLC blog</a>)-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-8911765269276552032007-02-15T12:05:00.000+01:002007-02-15T22:57:24.851+01:00Intro to security on z/OSI've just read a good article from the <a href="http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/">IBM Systems Journal</a>: <a href="http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/403/guski.html">Security on z/OS: Comprehensive, current, and flexible</a>. About 20 printed pages, from 2001, and written "<span style="font-style: italic;">at a high level, aimed at enterprise decision makers and application architects. The intent is to explain the comprehensive security componentry within z/OS and to show how these techniques and functions are exploited by modern distributed and Internet applications</span>".<br /><br />This is not mentioned in the article, but one thing that in the past has made me feel uneasy about z/OS security was the limited maximum password length (8 chars), giving a very small password-space by today's computing standards. No need to be concerned about this anymore: <a href="http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&appname=Demonstration&htmlfid=897/ENUS206-190">z/OS V1.8</a> supports <a href="http://pages.citebite.com/a1k0t8o2b8yha">RACF pass phrases from 14 to 100 characters in length</a>.<br /><br />I learned some neat things about the z/OS security capabilities that, as far as I know, are not available in other operating systems, e.g.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://pages.citebite.com/i1y0e8q3q0sgf">access control can be made dependant on time</a>.</li><li>great separation of roles: <a href="http://pages.citebite.com/l1q0x8p2k9bps">admins can administer resources without having access to them</a>, or <a href="http://pages.citebite.com/u1y0v8m3w1lun">admins cannot prevent the auditor from auditing them, while the auditors cannot authorize themselves to resources</a> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Update:</span> <a href="http://ktn.blogsome.com/">César Gustavo Miramontes</a>, <a href="http://ktn.blogsome.com/category/domino/">Domino</a> for <a href="http://ktn.blogsome.com/category/iseries/">iSeries</a> wizard, pointed to me that iSeries also has this capability).<br /></li></ul>The article mentions that the SSL performance has dramatically increased: from 13 SSL handshakes per second in 1998 to 2,000 in 2001. Likely to be old data, but this <a href="http://pages.citebite.com/b1p0m8l3k4lug">talks about 11,000 SSL handshakes/second</a>.<br /><br />Another introductory article that I liked is <a href="http://www.bcr.com/architecture/intranets/ensuring_security_ibm_mainframes_200604011169.htm">Ensuring Security On IBM Mainframes</a>. Shorter (10 pages), but was useful for me to get a basic understanding of RACF classes and profiles.<br /><br />More <a href="http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/8/897/ENUS207-018/#Security">security-related goodies comming with z/OS v1.9</a>; dear to me with what is keeping me busy today are support for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKCS11">PKCS#11</a> and a Java API for RACF administration.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-82676315356067478282007-02-14T12:49:00.000+01:002007-02-14T12:54:35.081+01:00Shouting "fire" in a crowded place<a href="http://epredator.blogspot.com/">Ian Hughes</a>, on a comment to a post by <a href="http://andypiper.wordpress.com/2007/02/12/end-of-messages">Andy Piper announcing a blogging break</a>:<br /><blockquote>“I am stopping blogging” is the Web 2.0 of shouting “fire” in a crowded place.</blockquote>-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-49542209446391757692007-02-12T23:20:00.000+01:002007-02-12T23:00:56.131+01:00e-ink<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/itpd/reader/reader_features.html"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/itpd/reader/images/features_carry.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Jeff Berg [1], in his IBM intranet blog [2], commented days ago on having used a <a href="http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/itpd/reader/reader_features.html">Sony Reader</a>: <span style="font-style: italic;">'astounded at how much it looked like paper'</span>. Like a book, it is not back-lit: comfortable to read for long periods, but requiring external light.<br /><br />It was the first time that I heard about Sony Reader, but now both my back and my brain would love to own this gadget.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[1]</span> I don't know how to link to Jeff. Here you have a link to his<a href="http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764577689,descCd-authorInfo.html"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Beginning ActionScript 2.0</span></a> book and to <a href="http://memoryprojector.com/suntimes/">his wondeful video of a Chicago building being teared down</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[2]</span> Jeff's "Fight For The User" blog is, by far, the most visually interesting in our intranet. And it's not just pretty: lots of good posts on usability and information design. He does indeed fight for the user.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-66983770353538255442007-01-23T00:31:00.001+01:002007-01-23T07:03:36.564+01:00Grandmothers and designers' expectations<a href="http://www.informit.com/authors/bio.asp?a=61899683-7393-4dd2-9ba2-a3d0a579e8b4&rl=1"> Bruce MacIsaac</a>:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Systems often outlive the assumptions of their original designers</span>. The millenium bug is a classic example. Assuming that the software would be replaced by 1999, early designers used two-digit dates. That assumption cost billions to correct. My own grandmother was the victim of a similar false assumption. When my grandfather passed away in the 1970s, she bought a dual headstone, precarved with her name and "19__". <span style="font-weight: bold;">At the age of 112, Mary MacIssac, like many legacy systems, continues to outlive the designer's expectations</span>.</blockquote>From the <span style="font-style: italic;">Leverage Legacy Systems</span> chapter of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Agility and Discipline Made Easy. Practices from OpenUP and RUP</span> <span style="font-size:78%;">(<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321321308?ie=UTF8&tag=xdexa-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0321321308">amazon.com</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=xdexa-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0321321308" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" />,<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0321321308?ie=UTF8&tag=xdexavie-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0321321308">amazon.co.uk </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=xdexavie-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0321321308" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" />,<a href="http://safari.awprofessional.com/0321321308">safari</a>)</span>, by <a href="http://www-306.ibm.com/software/rational/bios/kroll.html">Per Kroll</a> and Bruce MacIsaac.<br /><br />Bruce dedicates the book to his grandmother.-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-43586755663520315062007-01-19T16:42:00.000+01:002007-01-19T16:47:40.316+01:00Analogies and Connections<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rtpscrolls.blogspot.com/"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://bellsouthpwp.net/n/a/nastacio/rtpscrolls.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://rtpscrolls.blogspot.com/2006/10/welcome-to-rtp-scrolls.html">The RTP Scrolls</a> is a place where Denilson Nastacio and his readers <span style="font-style: italic;">have some fun drawing analogies from unexpected sources, borrowing examples from Mother Nature, mathematics, physics, biology, politics and on occasion, metaphysics</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Burke_%28science_historian%29"><img style="cursor: pointer; float: left;" src="http://clickcaster.com/profile/thumbnail/4492" alt="" border="0" /></a>Denilson's unexpected jumping often makes me think about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Burke_%28science_historian%29">James Burke</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_%28TV_series%29">Connections (<span style="font-style: italic;">an alternative view of change</span>)</a> , one my my favourite TV shows ever (that I haven't had the chance to watch it in 20?! years). The great news for me is that, while googling to write this post, I have learned that I'll be able to <a href="http://clickcaster.com/users/jamesburke">watch some of the episodes</a>.<br /><br />Enjoy!-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115644605833384138.post-11469889927916253012007-01-18T14:28:00.001+01:002007-01-18T14:41:18.295+01:00Ajax i Rich Internet Applications, Microsoft, IBM, Adobe i atSistemas<a href="http://www.atsistemas.com/evento-RIA-BCN-1.html">Web 2.0: la revolución de RIA en el desarrollo de aplicaciones web. Un enfoque práctico</a>: al World Trade Center de Barcelona el primer de febrer, i <a href="http://www.atsistemas.com/evento-RIA-MAD-1.html">a Madrid el 8 de febrer</a>.<br /><br />Organitzat per atSistemas, <span style="font-style: italic;">Business Partner Premier</span> de IBM.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.atsistemas.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.atsistemas.com/image.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ups!</span> Inscripcions al 91 640 76 20 o per mail a Isabel Hueso (ihueso at atsistemas.com)-Xvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954073038736466058noreply@blogger.com0