Thoughts from a Vacuum

University administrative systems, like the legacy ones we have here, are complex, highly integrated programs with layers of back-end processes. Registration must tie into several databases - it must tie into who is eligible for a certain class, the number of seats available - and it must work simultaneously so that two people don't book the same last seat in a given classroom. Every couple of years some genius decides that a new enterprise program can just be done by students as part of a class project. They are clueless. Completely clueless.... and I guess it is my fault. I really ought to do a better job of educating the public (our users) about what goes into an enterprise system. There are no easy fixes. A specific program does not exist by itself. It has to be able to seamlessly integrate into the vast labyrinth of existing enterprise systems. Getting code to talk to code is not a project for students. Too much is at stake.

Another....Tales of the Webmaster

Hello,

I know this is not your normal email!! I have a Full Body Female Bangle Tiger mount I am selling. This is VERY Rare and was legally brought into the US with papers. It can only be sold in the US. I have attached pictures of her and you will see this is a very special Tiger mount. I have been contacted by Bass Pro and Cabela's outdoor world, but my first thought was the Tigers. Let me know if you are interested in this beautifully Tiger.
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- All I have to say is gross. I hate people.

Spackers

The art of hacking has long been something I have admired. Having the skills to covertly access information that is private or even better top secret has a certain cache. However, and this is a big "however," today's hackers are just plain stupid. They hack not for the thrill of accessing information, but for the purpose of spamming. They are spam hackers or spackers. How stupid is this? They use their "talents" to hack Facebook accounts and Web sites in order to send out product advertisements. What an incredible waste. The more creative ones will spoof a Web site and steal identities, but where is the real challenge in that? Any number of morons will fill out a piece of paper and give you their lives. They are right there with the cold-calling thieves that phone old people for money. There is no cache in this. You can't feel special or like you've accomplished something because your spam attack has made your site a top hit for Google for the two minutes before your site is blacklisted. How incredibly stupid. This makes me angry. These skills could be put to much better use or at least misuse.

Online Career Dangers

A recent ZDNET blog (http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=1703) discusses the security risks of Twitter. Apparently people are updating and inadvertently exposing confidential information. It really makes my latest mishap seem even more minor than it is. Yes, I inadvertently offended a co-worker by stating that I "survived" a meeting with him. He of course does not have access to my twitter account, but another co-worker was kind enough to share it with him. I of course apologized for the hurtful comment and explained that it was not intended to be hurtful. He is not yet over it. You would think his skin would be a bit thicker than that. The irony of this is that on Friday I am giving an interview about the importance of protecting one's Facebook and online identity as it relates to future careers. You don't want to be exposed as unprofessional and should keep everything set to private. Of course, I did set everything to private but failed to be picky in the friends I allowed to view my updates. I am now appropriately paranoid. Lesson learned. If I work with you, you no longer have the ability to spy on me.

Oh the huge manatee

Google blamed human error for its mishap this weekend. For a period of time the search giant incorrectly labeled all of its sites as malware. My first thought was "well, someone lost their job." But perhaps not. One of the problems we face in IT is that sometimes really good people mess up big. They are the ones we entrust with responsibility. Oftentimes they are the ones we over burden. Then they mess up big, and questions are asked and consequences must be handed down. While the mistake may be a fire-able offense, this must be measured against the track record of the individual. From a simple cost benefit analysis we can see that firing a good person will result in lost productivity and advances for years ahead. Other punitive courses of action are then up for grabs - but what does this do for morale of the individual? If you do nothing, people (including those who work for you) think the quality of service has degraded and respond accordingly. I think we should focus on empowering our staff to not make mistakes. Are errors the result of short-cuts or sloppiness? What are the underlying reasons? Is the individual overworked and overwhelmed? What measures are in place for quality control? What are we doing to prevent good people from messing up big?

Seriously?

Again, the webmaster is NOT a seer! Just received this message....


Hello,
Will I be able to take classes over the coming summer on campus?

Some Guy

Real Tales of the Webmaster

As the person who gets to review the inquiries sent to the webmaster (yes, I requested this), I have a few concerns about our fellow human beings. For those of you wondering at home, a webmaster is not a magical seer. I just want to make that clear. There seems to be some confusion. I do not know why I can navigate the morass of our institutional webpages to find what you were looking for and you cannot. (Hint: Use A-Z) Perhaps I am used to it? I do not know where you can find a transcript of a talk you attended several years ago at your social club given by an individual who no longer works here. If I had to guess, I would assume no such thing exists and you are SOL. I sincerely doubt that your white old guy club took the time to record and youtube the talk oh so many years ago. I cannot tell you where the ACT will be offered off-hand. I think you can call the testing service as well as I can. I do not think it is a national crisis that you could not find the area code on the homepage and had to click on one of the millions of other pages to find it. Oh, and Greg who graduated in 2007 and saved his screen play on our virtual lab server instead of one of the many online storage resources that were available to you... ha ha! Dumb ass.