Month: December 2011

Is the iPad Compromising the IT Industry?

It’s kind of like the perfect storm…  The Internet has exploded in growth and its ubiquity directly corresponds to the Commoditization of “Connected Devices”.  It started with devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry and it’s spiked again with the introduction of the iPad.

Gartner announced this week: Without Proper Planning, Enterprises Deploying iPads Will Need 300% More Wi-Fi.  This is pretty serious if you’re the one responsible for making sure these enterprise systems work reliably.

I’ve been in the IT industry for a while now and I can tell you from experience the adoption of new technology has ALWAYS been a hard sell to upper management.  Then the iPad hits the market and the drive for adoption starts coming  from the TOP of the orginization.  The “Cool Factor” of the device made it the “thing” to have in the board room.

The fact that the iPad is NOT a laptop replacement is lost on the CEO, CFO, COO, etc..  I’ve seen people who once had to have perfection in their “productivity tools” all of a sudden accept the major limitations of their new toy.  These limitations are not only limited to the iPad, all the tablets being wedged into the corporate world have limited features and poor security.

To be fair, I’ve tested the iPad & it was a fun toy.  If you just want to surf the web and check your email it will do that just fine.  If you want to use your accounting applications, ERP system, or edit complicated spreadsheets it’s going to have its challenges.  I’m now testing the Blackberry Playbook which has similar limitations and a lot less available applications.

The only “Tablet” that I’ve ever used that, in my opinion, was worth anything was a Tablet PC where the screen could be rotated and reversed allowing you to use its 14″ touch screen.  This, to me, is the best of both worlds.  Full featured, powerful, and completely compatible with your existing workflow and environment.  Is it a little bigger than the iPad?  Sure it is but that difference is 100% worth it to me.

Do you have an iPad (or other tablet)?  Does it do everything you expect?

 

 

 

Do the Freemasons Run Facebook?

Happy Sunday morning everyone!  I love Sunday mornings.  It’s a time where the family sleeps in and I spend some quiet time reflecting on the past week and preparing for another exciting seven days.

There’s nothing like a good conspiracy theory to get the mind thinking about all kinds of crazy stuff.  I shared the following on Facebook a few days ago & have thought about it ever since.

From a profile of Mark Zuckerberg on Forbes.com:

What the CIA failed to do in 60 years, Zuck has done in 7: knowing what 800 million people–more than 10% of the world’s population–think, read and listen to, plus who they know, what they like and where they live, travel, vote, shop, worship. U.S. users spend more time on Facebook–on average 6.3 hours a month–than on any other site.

Is it possible that Facebook (a once private Social Network) is run by the Freemasons (a private Social Network)?  Of course it’s possible and Zuckerberg could be at the 33rd level.

There have always been strong ties between the US Government and the Free Masons.  The “All Seeing Eye” is on our currency after all.  It isn’t surprising the US Government (CIA, NSA, et al) have a HUGE interest in the information we all freely share with our “friends”.

On episode 353 of the “No Agenda” podcast Adam discussed the similarities of the “Two Ball Cane” to the Facebook logo:

Sometimes the truth is staring us right in the face every day

So what do you think?  Is Facebook just another company that’s found its Niche in Society or is it part of a greater evil that’s taking the opportunity to gather as much information on you as possible?

As an aside (and a bit of humor) you can see below it’s easy to change an existing logo to make a new one with a completely different meaning:

I love the Death Star/Wikipedia comparison

 

Tweets from 1939

Every once in a while a great idea comes along that, once you hear it, is so obvious!

On Aug 31, 2011 a British man named Alwyn Collinson started a 6 year project that uses Twitter to send out messages from World War II.  These messages are reports of the war as they happen on the same day and time over 70 years ago.  The messages are brief and often have links to related historical images.

@RealTimeWWII has grown in popularity over the months and as of the time of this writing has 160,000 users following the action.

As you can imagine there’s a lot of information to be relayed and the timing of the messages are what makes this so unique.  Mr. Collinson uses an online scheduling tool called SocialOomph to keep the entire project moving.

I first learned about this project from an article in the New York Times.  They have a great writeup that also talks about other similar projects.

If you’re a WWII fan you should check this out. An RSS feed is also available but requires a Facebook account to access.

Hey Indianapolis, do I have a DEAL for you!

If you’re a Big Mac fan, this is for you…  50% off & 26,000+already purchased!

It’s all about the margins I guess…  Hard to believe Ronald went to a discount site for its latest promotion.  What’s next?  15 Dave’s Hot and Tasty’s from Wendy’s for $20?  I’m not linking to the deal above, I just can’t do it…