... its bettter for me if they talk in German.

I am sitting here in the audience of a Handelsblatt Conference in Munich, Germany. I am third up to talk today and that means I have to listen to the two speakers ahead of me. I don’t like this - not that they are bad but they are going to be in English. Strangely, I don’t like that.

If the speakers were talking in German I would have no idea what they were saying. I would also not be listening to them saying exactly the things I was going to say. With them using many of ideas I want to talk about. I am left feeling like Elizabeth Taylor’s last husband on their wedding night. I know what I need to do but the challenge is to make it different.

If I tell you I am going to talk about eco, virtualization and clouds and how they intersect with X86 you will see my issue unfold...

First up is Lindsey Armstrong VP of International from Saleforce.com (and Brit, so she has a partial pass from me). She’s standing in for Benioff who couldn’t make it (I can’t complain about that, I am a stand in here after all). Her message is around cloud computing more specifically their cloud computing. Looking at the audience I wonder if she is talking to the right people. Always tough to talk about IT out-sourcing to the IT Department. While many modern CIOs and CTOs are business people rather than IT managers - you have to believe this is a struggle for them. Reminds me of the old joke - if you wanted to get there, you shouldn’t start here.

If I may be so bold, her message should be more around how salesforce.com can extend their capabilities not replace them. Still clouds are coming but people will need to talk about intra-clouds the same way we talked about intra-nets.

Next up is Padmasree Warrior the CTO from Cisco. She is starting with the way people work - I was expecting X86 server entry - maybe this will come later. I can’t help but think she is also talking about how to survive the next five years. Maybe I should talk about how to five months!

Having said that, she is making some interesting points about flow between enterprise and consumer. I think I can build on this point in my second section - given that I am typing on consumer laptop which I would rather use than my work machine. Enterprise laptops do have a huge amount of security and manageability in them but now with the cloud that will change. Devices are becoming disposable - no point spending more to manage than replace. It’s the data that needs backing up - not the device. More clouds.

Now Padmasree is moving onto the Next Internet (just heard an eco point). Her definition of the Next Internet sounds like something I was saying 5 years ago. As they say in the House of Commons, “I refer the Right Honorable Gentlemen to answer I gave 5 years ago.” See the Stages Of e-business Adoption - if you can still find this on the web.

So to virtualization and this completes all the points I am about to make. Not much about their new servers. Surprising - it's the perfect audience for them.

OK now me … “X86 at a crossroads“.

Actually, first coffee. There is a theory that states people will come back.


Two points to note:
1. I can’t do this on-line as the room has no free internet access and access on t-mobile is very expensive
2. As I look around the audience of around 300 people - not one PC open (other than this HP dv2) and I am willing to bet no-one will be twittering on their Blackberrys.

... that you should see to believe.

Someone asked me to post video of the MacBook Air vs HP dv2. Short video included. The sound of our house phone is just a bonus effect!



Theory has it that I need both.

... you can never have enough batteries.

I made a decision a few years ago to separate my work and personal life – PC wise that is.

If you change jobs every so often it’s a major hassle if you don’t – moving email addresses, links, tools and the like. Also, many companies are sensitive about not using company equipment for ‘non business reasons’. Best way to manage this is separate out ‘Church and State’. That means two PCs - I can live with that.

Problem is, I am heading to Europe next week and I am trying to decide if I have to take four!

Let’s start with the basics – everyday stuff.

1. Work based AMD Turion based laptop

2. Personal MacBook Air

Both machines are OK and do their job. I should point out that the Air pre-dates my current employer and it runs OS X – all my video stuff is Mac and I live the iLife. They both fit well in my bag and security is easy at the airport.

Now on this trip I am taking with me a new HP dv2. That’s PC number three.

It’s the hot new thing and we want to show it off for HP. In due course I may replace the Air with a dv2 (as long as it has the right chip in it) and then go Windows all the way. I have many concerns with this – some of which may be resolved by Windows 7. Best case would be running OS X on the dv2 but I am thinking that’s not going to happen any time soon.

Three PCs through security maybe a little more challenging.

It’s also a heavy load but I have a great ‘flight-bag’ so I am willing to give that a go. Problem is someone gave me a mini-notebook to play with too.

Is this a PC too far?

The HP mini-notebook is cute and seems to work ok. Problem is the screen is so small not sure what I would use it for. Maybe as a movie player. It’s also XP, which I know makes lots of people happy, but I can’t be bothered to relearn XP networking – bad enough I have to use Vista’s.

Four PCs at airport security and TSA may think I am running an import/export business.

I will update the blog with my experiences.

Of course, if the upgrade to business class doesn’t come through, I may need 4 machines just to have enough battery life to make it to Munich. There is a theory that states in the economy section the movies are really going to suck.

... that Che had something to say.

I have always liked the following lines that Che sings in the musical Evita.

"Juan always picks the easy fight
Juan praises fools
Juan smothers light
Juan shifts from left to right
Politics the art of the possible"

It struck me that this is not only politicians but sometimes business people too. I have to say I maybe as guilty as many.

Case in point, this is the 25th anniversary of Apple’s famous Super Bowl advert.

• In 1984 I was at school in Nottingham – so I rather missed the whole thing Mac vs PC thing.
• Between 1984 and 2005 – I worked for IBM, so Apple was generally a bad thing (Microsoft was no friend either), Intel became a partner.
• Between 2005 and 2008 – these are my StorageTek/Sun years. So Microsoft and IBM bad, Apple OK (but mostly because they are not IBM or Microsoft), Intel became a partner.
• From 2008 to today – IBM and Sun friends. Microsoft BFF. Intel – no comment.

Funny to think we need to remember who we work for to fully understand how we feel for someone.

... there are 7 things you (probably) don't know about me.

So I see a number of people are doing the #7things – for your delectation, here are mine:

1. I usually think in threes.

Whenever anyone asks me a question I usually answer with 3 things. What three things they are, are never the same but I can almost always think of three. It’s such a habit that I often start by saying there are ‘three things’ even when I don’t get to three. Only today I ran out at two and that was to a question I can usually think of three things for.

You can normally spot my work because it is in three parts – occasionally it is a ‘four-parter’ but I spend lots of time typing to get it to three. I am OK with one part having two sub-parts. Strangely, I don’t think of that as four. I even broke this list into three parts: facts, desire and secrets. You can work out which is which.

By the way – the number that most repeats in my life is 113. Another use of the 3?

2. I was born in Nottingham.

For the Americans, that’s Nottingham, England – not Nottingham, PA (yes there is one). Specifically, I grew up in West Bridgeford just south of the city.

Nottingham is quite a big city for the UK with about 700,000 people – which makes it a small town in the US. It is about 120 miles north of London and is typically described as The East Midlands. After a rather rocky time at school (see next section) I studied at what is now called Nottingham Trent University – named after the River Trent that flows through the city. In those days we called it Trent Poly. At Trent, I got a High National Diploma in Business Studies.

My parents still live in Nottingham, a short walk from the statue of Robin Hood. They live near the Castle – the place where Charles 1st raised his Standard in our Civil War – and we all know how well that worked out for him.

3. I have Developmental Dyspraxia

When I was young I was lucky enough to be tested and was originally described as Dyslexic. My sister, who knows these things, thinks that today it would be called Developmental Dyspraxia. It is all about the two halves of the brain not working well together. The end result is that if I spell, write or type things wrong, unless someone points it out to me, I will not see it.

In some ways, I am what I am today because of it – not in-spite of it. God has given me different skills to help me and I tend to focus on the verbal not the written. I am very lucky that many people have helped me over the years - from the extra lessons I did at school to the people who help me proof-read things today. I owe them much.

I would love to write a book but each time I sit in front of the keyboard, my insecurities about my skills hit me. Or it could be laziness.

4. I am Jewish

By birth, if not by practice I am an Orthodox Jew. Given the challenge of learning English, Hebrew seemed a step too far for me. Being Jewish is different in the UK than in the US. Outside the very Jewish areas of London, Jewish people are more hidden and quiet. No one wants to draw attention to themselves. I went to Christian Schools and probably know more of the New Testament than the Old.

When it comes to Jewish laws and traditions – I am more into the traditions. My father and his immediate family escaped The Holocaust but most of his family did not. The few traditions I follow (an occasional fast and a Passover supper) I do to honor his family to make it a part of mine.

When I am asked if I believe in God, I tend to say that Pascal's wager was the right idea.

5. If I could be anything, I would be a film director

If I could be born again, I wonder if Steven Spielberg would mind me being him?

Failing that, I spend too much of our discretionary income on video and computer equipment. Not sure how many other families have the home video edited to broadcast-quality standards. For Christmas (should that be Hanukkah?) we got a Blu-ray writer and player and we can now finally watch the 1080i HD movies I have been making since I bought by Sony HD1 four years ago.

The closest I ever really got was a part time job at BBC Radio Nottingham as a student. I did some film reviews and helped produce a Saturday Morning show – one of the best jobs of my life. I think I saw 100 movies in 1984 – even today, the thought of going to the movies makes me happy.

6. My favorite city is Las Vegas

I know lots of people hate Vegas but I love it. Got married there and spend as much time as we can afford (in both ways).

The moment we leave McCarran airport and head to our hotel, I start to relax. We never stay on The Strip unless it’s for work. We tend to look for deals in the off-strip local places. We love the shows and we love the restaurants. Our holidays there are often the time we actually go shopping for clothes and personal stuff. Who has the time in real life?

Best shows are Ka and Love. Whatever you do – don’t go and see the Criss Angel show.

Best restaurant: The Bagel Cafe. Chopped liver on a toasted poppy seed bagel. Does life get better?

7. I have two fictional heroes: Tony Hancock and Zaphod Beeblebrox

I discovered Tony Hancock through a friend’s recording of ‘The Missing Page’. I didn’t know who he was but I fell in love with the writing (Galton and Simpson) and his comic timing. In his best times, before television, he could empty the pubs. People still can recite sections of ‘The Blood Donor’ today. His life story is not a happy one and ends when he committed suicide, by overdose, in Sydney on 24 June 1968. He felt unloved and misunderstood. According to the Wikipedia entry on him – “In a 2002 poll, BBC radio listeners voted Hancock their favorite British comedian.” Guess he never knew.

Hancock’s TV work is on YouTube – an example is this excerpt from his version of Twelve Angry Men. However, if you really want to hear him like I did, then you need to find the original radio series. The BBC still sell them and you can download them from Audible.

The same way Hancock is better on the radio, so is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. If you have only ever seen the TV show (or God-help-us the movie) then you don’t know the series. Even if you have read all the books! Something about the radio series talked to me and still does. The Christmas Edition, typically viewed as today as episode 1 of series 2, is the best. I so much wanted to be as cool as Zaphod. Hey, and he was President of The Universe.

If you follow the last link you will also see where I stole the title of this blog from.

H2G2 was of course written by the late Douglas Adams. I met him a few times and was starting to work on a charity committee with him when I moved to the US. When he died on May 11th, 2001 (aged 49) in Santa Barbara I was 25 miles away. Still get tears in my eyes today if I think about it.

... you can say it all in 40 one words.

So I have been thinking, untagged, of doing a #7things. This it seemed to me as much cathartic sharing as I could take. Can too much sharing be harmful?

Well, I am yet to put my #7things to bed, when I am tagged by @jonathaneunice to do ‘40 one-worders’ for all to enjoy. Here is my list. #7thing to follow. What did happen to question 15?

1. Where is your cell phone? docked

2. Your significant other? facebooking

3. Your hair? greying

4. Your mother? shuttling

5. Your father? jazzing

6. Your favorite thing? playing

7. Your dream last night? forgotten

8. Your favorite drink? Lagavulin

9. Your dream/goal? independence

10. What room you are in? cube

11. Your hobby? movies

12. Your fear? ignornace

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Vegas

14. Where were you last night? eating

16. Muffins? chocolate-chip

17. Wish list item? recovery

18. Where you grew up? DPD11

19. Last thing you did? meeting

20. What are you wearing? logos

21. Your TV? Cooking

22. Your pets? Inga

23. Friends? closer

24. Your life? happy

25. Your mood? fussed

26. Missing someone? yes

27. Car? indulgent

28. Something you’re not wearing? hat

29. Your favorite store? B&HPhoto

30. Your summer? Vegas

31. Like someone? closer

32. Your favorite color? yellow

33. When is the last time you laughed? always

34. Last time you cried? #7things

35. Who will resend this? @PatrickMoorhead

36. One place that I go to over and over? Vegas

37. One person who emails me regularly? Viagra-suppliers

38. My favorite place to eat? China

39. Why you participated in this survey? @jonathaneunice

40. What are you doing tonight? Mexican

I tag: @jtmcarthur56 , @PatrickMoorhead, @DanShine, @johnvolkmann, @carmenoshea, @vgtero and @JTRex.

I know some of you don’t have blogs. Maybe a time to start? I will link to those I know of and post for others who cannot find a blog to call their own.

Now back to the #7things - that should make some people think - in theory.

... Windows 7 is going to be no better than Windows Vista.

First of all we have to accept that almost everything has to be better than Vista – if only from a market positioning point of view. Vista’s early promise of power, pictures and performance, quickly gave way to disappointment as each new feature and capability was dropped or bended to fit the final release. I am not even sure SP1 really gave us anything to be excited about – maybe less broken.

Still one of the biggest part was how the target for the Vista Capable spec was moved around, possibly to make Intel happy - press here for more. From am memory, processor and graphics view – users got under-configured and underpowered machines. Not a great way to start.

Apple has made the frustrations we all feel worse. Whether you think OS X looks or feels better may be a matter of personal opinion and learning. The fact that I can plug a printer in and print something is a matter of fact. When I got my new Vista machine from work, the same could not be said. Searching for drivers, downloading drivers, configuring networks – all bread and butter steps to the PC user – are unreal and unneeded to the Apple user.

Worse still for Microsoft has been the complete lack of understanding of how we use PCs at home and the difference of using them at work.

For years, we all said that we wanted to use the same applications at home that we used at work. Today we don’t. I don’t edit video, manage my pictures or listen to MP3s at work. Why do I need the same applications? Word, PowerPoint, Excel et al are great – but I don’t use them at home and if I do – OpenOffice allows for the same amount of function. Apple noticed this and iLife is just the best way to go.

Interestingly, I don’t know a lot of iWork users – they just go with Office on Mac. Sort of makes the application point. If like me, you have more than one machine, then you pick the application and OS for the need. I work on Windows but I still edit video on my Mac. I am trying to learn Adobe Premier again but I love Final Cut Pro HD.

One advantage Windows and PCs have is the sheer number and size of the market. Given I have been editing HD video for three years, I finally wanted to cut it into a disk of some-sort and play on our big-HD telly. The solution that seemed best was Blu-ray. I know I could be all digital but I like some hardcopy too. Apple has decided to make Blu-ray a no-no (outside of Compressor) so my Blu-ray writer is attached to my rather splendid Phenom based AMD PC. Phenom II chips to be added soon I hope. Ubiquity is a great thing – something Microsoft has got to make work for them.

So Windows 7 is going to fix all of Microsoft’s problems – well the system is actually working it anyway. I think the applications are an afterthought. To that end Windows 7 will boot up more quickly – because someone at Microsoft has decided that’s the problem – the boot up time. Having installed W7 beta on my Mac – using Sun’s VM technology (nice job boys) – I can assure you of this – it boots up more quickly.

Well, is Windows 7 really Vista with a ‘comb-over’? Yes and no.Not so many annoying bubbles, my applications are currently working but I am not yet brave enough to try and print something. Windows 7 networking will meet my LAN sometime – but let’s not push things. The theory that that’s all going to work is for another day.

... people get what's coming to them.

People who crap on you should receive the same back to them; hideous oafs who are cruel to animals should have their arms ripped off by giants, etc. I could go on but you get the point.

I make the point because of something I read in Slashdot: RIAA Hearing Next Week Will Be Televised.

Those nice people at the RIAA are in ‘opposition to televising the proceedings’ in the case ‘SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum.’

Slashdot reports that … “District Judge Nancy Gertner labeled as 'curious' the record companies' opposition to televising the proceedings, since their professed reason for bringing the cases is deterrence, 'a strategy [which] effectively relies on the publicity arising from this litigation'."

In other words, if you want to pick on ‘the little people’ and bully them for all to see, you better be willing to live with the implications of all seeing that you are a bully. If you don’t think you are bullying people and this is your fair and proper rights – then no issues with the publicity, eh?

The RIAA will get what it deserves – I hope – but two issues get blurred in this nonsense they are carrying on.

1. I am not saying companies and individuals should not be able to protect their IP and defend it in court - they should.

But let’s face it, going after single mothers, dead people, homeless people, 12 year old school girls and the like, is not the answer.

Newsflash: The music and TV industry needs to work how to live with the changes in their industry still have valuable IP – but then I am hardly the first to say that!

2. Patent trolls are dogs who should be taken out and shot.

We would be better off with the loser-pays system — known as the “English rule” — which exists in most of the rest of the developed world. If you lose a case like these, you often had to pay ALL the opposition’s costs. Sounds good to me. That would stop the stupidity that we’ve been watching in Utah. Yes SCO – that means you. Make Boyes pay the costs for IBM – maybe we could have moved on long ago - given that all started in 2003. See Groklaw for a timetable.

Of course we all work for companies that both sue and get sued. I am not in the legal department so I can’t give you the cut and thrust of ours cases – check our PR team for that. But I believe we operate with integrity and that’s the first step for me.

But there is another theory that says that’s all relative.

The beginning.

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

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