On Tuesday evening I was able to attend an Oracle Alumni dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto, California. The dinner was supposed to be for the 100 most influential people of Oracle in the early days. Don't ask how I got invited as I was still in high school when I first started working at Oracle in 1986 and played a very small part in helping the company.
It was fun to get together with a small group of friends from Oracle's early days. I would say that I knew about half of the people in attendance and it had been over 20 years since I had seen most them. A lot of the old Oracle Alumni have gone on to become CEO's at large software companies throughout Silicon Valley. It was fun for me to be able to talk with them and find out what they have been up to. I was amazed to discover how many of them have left the corporate world and started working with various charities. The thing that wasn't so surprising was how many of them went on to sit on various boards for other companies.
The evening eventually came to a close and it was sad to part company. Business cards were exchanged and promises of getting together again soon echoed through the room. Now I just hope it doesn't take another 20 years to get together again.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Gamification
I have been hearing a lot about gamification lately. For those that don't know, gamification is using ideas from games in non-game context. The classic example is adding a typing speed display inside a word processing program. Then you can see how fast you are typing and it spurs you to get faster and be more accurate.
This last week I started the Global Corporate Challenge with a group of people from work. When we signed up, they sent us a backpack, a pair of socks, and 2 pedometers. The idea is to walk 10,000 steps every day for 6 weeks. If you decide to swim or bike, you can enter those distances and it converts them to equivalent steps. The GCC takes a page from gamification in that you compete with other teams around the world. Every day you enter the number of steps along with any biking and swimming and you can see how you stack up against other groups. There is also a virtual trip from London all the way around the world and you can see your location every day, which is another gamification idea.
When I am in the office in California, it is easy to get the minimum number of steps. I have the 4 mile ride each way to work. Also any time I want to get food, I walk. I can hit the 10,000 step mark sometime after lunch. At home it is a whole different story. I only end up walking about 4,000 steps in a day. My office is only 30 steps from my bedroom. The kitchen is half-way between the two.
As I am working from home this week, I had a very difficult time getting my 10,000 steps yesterday. Thursday was easy as I did a 15-mile bike ride, which came close to the 10,000 step requirement all on its own. But yesterday it was raining and I didn't want to ride in the rain. At lunch I took the dog for a walk and cracked off 2,500 steps. Towards the end of the day, I was still another 2,500 miles short and so I started doing laps around the kitchen. My wife told me to take the dog for another walk and that is how I was able to get my minimum steps for the day: walking outside in the dark with the dog.
Once again it is raining and so I am not about to take a bike ride. I'm thinking about connecting the pedometer to a paint shaker to help me get the required steps. That is probably cheating though. Besides the whole point of of the program is to get some daily exercise and watching a paint shaker doesn't count.
This last week I started the Global Corporate Challenge with a group of people from work. When we signed up, they sent us a backpack, a pair of socks, and 2 pedometers. The idea is to walk 10,000 steps every day for 6 weeks. If you decide to swim or bike, you can enter those distances and it converts them to equivalent steps. The GCC takes a page from gamification in that you compete with other teams around the world. Every day you enter the number of steps along with any biking and swimming and you can see how you stack up against other groups. There is also a virtual trip from London all the way around the world and you can see your location every day, which is another gamification idea.
When I am in the office in California, it is easy to get the minimum number of steps. I have the 4 mile ride each way to work. Also any time I want to get food, I walk. I can hit the 10,000 step mark sometime after lunch. At home it is a whole different story. I only end up walking about 4,000 steps in a day. My office is only 30 steps from my bedroom. The kitchen is half-way between the two.
As I am working from home this week, I had a very difficult time getting my 10,000 steps yesterday. Thursday was easy as I did a 15-mile bike ride, which came close to the 10,000 step requirement all on its own. But yesterday it was raining and I didn't want to ride in the rain. At lunch I took the dog for a walk and cracked off 2,500 steps. Towards the end of the day, I was still another 2,500 miles short and so I started doing laps around the kitchen. My wife told me to take the dog for another walk and that is how I was able to get my minimum steps for the day: walking outside in the dark with the dog.
Once again it is raining and so I am not about to take a bike ride. I'm thinking about connecting the pedometer to a paint shaker to help me get the required steps. That is probably cheating though. Besides the whole point of of the program is to get some daily exercise and watching a paint shaker doesn't count.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Pretty Data
Every Thursday afternoon I have a meeting with several data scientists and we discuss how things are going. I am going to end up missing the meeting today because I have another commitment. However it got me thinking about last week's meeting and the work I have done this week, as I still had to submit a progress report for everyone to review.
Last week we got to see a pretty graph in 3D space. The presenter rotated it around so you could tell it was really 3D and not just meant to look that way on the screen. Anyone that doesn't stare at data all day long for his or her job might have been impressed with the graphic. My first thought was, "So what? What does this graph tell me? All I can see are a bunch of dots that look like a vapor cloud."
Now I suppose I might be a little harsh, but seriously, if you had zoomed out, it would have looked like an oval dot on the screen. That got me thinking about what makes data useful. I may modify this in the future, but today I am thinking that useful data needs to tell a story and/or create an action. For instance, watching a graph of Facebook stock over the past few days indicates that the original investors got screwed, at least for now. This may cause others to see the stock as a good deal and buy some. Current investors may see this data and decide to unload it before it tanks any more (Facebook stock is actually up 2 points today . . . the last time I looked). When I look at a cloud of dots, I don't see a story, nor do I want to do anything. Well I may want to take a nap, but that doesn't count.
So the next time you see a bunch of data, ask yourself, "Is it useful? Does it tell a story? Does it make me want to do something? Or do I just want to take a nap?" If there is no story nor do you feel compelled to take action, then you can probably ignore it.
Last week we got to see a pretty graph in 3D space. The presenter rotated it around so you could tell it was really 3D and not just meant to look that way on the screen. Anyone that doesn't stare at data all day long for his or her job might have been impressed with the graphic. My first thought was, "So what? What does this graph tell me? All I can see are a bunch of dots that look like a vapor cloud."
Now I suppose I might be a little harsh, but seriously, if you had zoomed out, it would have looked like an oval dot on the screen. That got me thinking about what makes data useful. I may modify this in the future, but today I am thinking that useful data needs to tell a story and/or create an action. For instance, watching a graph of Facebook stock over the past few days indicates that the original investors got screwed, at least for now. This may cause others to see the stock as a good deal and buy some. Current investors may see this data and decide to unload it before it tanks any more (Facebook stock is actually up 2 points today . . . the last time I looked). When I look at a cloud of dots, I don't see a story, nor do I want to do anything. Well I may want to take a nap, but that doesn't count.
So the next time you see a bunch of data, ask yourself, "Is it useful? Does it tell a story? Does it make me want to do something? Or do I just want to take a nap?" If there is no story nor do you feel compelled to take action, then you can probably ignore it.
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Death of a Power Supply
A few months ago, I started noticing some weird behavior on my desktop Linux computer at home. I have been able to work around it until I got home from the airport this past Friday night. I went to turn on the computer, but it wouldn't boot. There were not lights nor fans that came on. It was like I was pressing a random part of the computer as the "On" button seemed to have no effect. When this has happened in the past, it was just a matter of disconnecting all of the cables from the back, re-inserting them, and turning it on. Friday night, that didn't work.
It is a good thing I have several other computers in my office at home as I was able to search the Internet for help. My Linux desktop is a Dell. In fact, it is one of the first Dell computers to have the new Intel i7 processor and it seems the engineers never got full credit on their homework assignments in college. Searching on my model number and a few other key words like "won't turn on" brought up numerous accounts of other Dell customers experiencing the same problem. When Dell built my computer, they put in a 300 watt power supply, which turns out to be way too small. Judging from the number of posts, I was lucky my power supply managed to last as long as it did.
Computer power supplies are relatively cheap. I probably could have ordered one online and gotten a better price, but I needed to get my computer running immediately. As it was 1 am by the time I felt I knew how to solve my problem, I went to bed. The next day I added a stop at Best Buy to my list of chores. I read about a 600 watt power supply that solved the problem nicely, but the largest my local store had was 450. I asked to make sure it would fit in my Dell case and was told all power supplies were interchangeable. In truth, they are not, but I decided to give it a shot.
I got home and opened the case only to be amazed at how many wires come out of a power supply. I had removed the case of my computer before but never really noticed all of those wires. There were really only 4 bundles that mattered: 2 for the motherboard, 1 for my graphics card, and 1 for my disk drive and DVD drive. I unplugged them all and pulled out the defective power supply. Getting the old one out took a bit of skill. Putting the new one in was almost impossible. When you build a computer, the first thing you put in the case is the power supply. I didn't want to pull everything out of my case and so it was rather difficult to work the new supply around heat sinks and cooling fans. Bending a bit of the sheet metal in the case helped but it was a non-trivial process. Besides, with the cover back on, nobody can tell I had to bend anything.
I connected everything back up only to discover that the power cable running from the supply to the hard drive and then to the DVD drive wasn't long enough. A quick internet search showed me I could get an 8-inch extension cord for around $5 and so I ordered one. After all the case bending, I didn't want to take out the new power supply and return it for one with more of the newer SATA power interface pig-tails. Right now I don't have a DVD drive as I had to choose between it or the hard drive, but that will be fixed on Wednesday when the part arrives.
I left a panel of the case off and made sure the computer would turn on. It did and so I turned the computer off and put the case back together. That was a huge relief as I really need my Linux desktop. It is nice to have it back from the dead.
It is a good thing I have several other computers in my office at home as I was able to search the Internet for help. My Linux desktop is a Dell. In fact, it is one of the first Dell computers to have the new Intel i7 processor and it seems the engineers never got full credit on their homework assignments in college. Searching on my model number and a few other key words like "won't turn on" brought up numerous accounts of other Dell customers experiencing the same problem. When Dell built my computer, they put in a 300 watt power supply, which turns out to be way too small. Judging from the number of posts, I was lucky my power supply managed to last as long as it did.
Computer power supplies are relatively cheap. I probably could have ordered one online and gotten a better price, but I needed to get my computer running immediately. As it was 1 am by the time I felt I knew how to solve my problem, I went to bed. The next day I added a stop at Best Buy to my list of chores. I read about a 600 watt power supply that solved the problem nicely, but the largest my local store had was 450. I asked to make sure it would fit in my Dell case and was told all power supplies were interchangeable. In truth, they are not, but I decided to give it a shot.
I got home and opened the case only to be amazed at how many wires come out of a power supply. I had removed the case of my computer before but never really noticed all of those wires. There were really only 4 bundles that mattered: 2 for the motherboard, 1 for my graphics card, and 1 for my disk drive and DVD drive. I unplugged them all and pulled out the defective power supply. Getting the old one out took a bit of skill. Putting the new one in was almost impossible. When you build a computer, the first thing you put in the case is the power supply. I didn't want to pull everything out of my case and so it was rather difficult to work the new supply around heat sinks and cooling fans. Bending a bit of the sheet metal in the case helped but it was a non-trivial process. Besides, with the cover back on, nobody can tell I had to bend anything.
I connected everything back up only to discover that the power cable running from the supply to the hard drive and then to the DVD drive wasn't long enough. A quick internet search showed me I could get an 8-inch extension cord for around $5 and so I ordered one. After all the case bending, I didn't want to take out the new power supply and return it for one with more of the newer SATA power interface pig-tails. Right now I don't have a DVD drive as I had to choose between it or the hard drive, but that will be fixed on Wednesday when the part arrives.
I left a panel of the case off and made sure the computer would turn on. It did and so I turned the computer off and put the case back together. That was a huge relief as I really need my Linux desktop. It is nice to have it back from the dead.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Sending Large Amounts of Data
I have a project at work were I need to send someone about 120 GB of data. That is the equivalent of 30 DVD's. The sad thing is that I have to pull the data from a system at a co-location facility, put it on my workstation, and then send it to another facility. It would be a lot easier if I could just transfer the data from one site to another, but very restrictive firewall rules keep that from happening.
The the first step of the transfer is actually pretty fast. I have broken the data into 30 different files (all about the size of a DVD) to help streamline the transfer. Each one of the files only takes about 20 minutes to download to my workstation. The slow link in the process is from my workstation to our other office. That takes 8 hours per file. Doing a little math and you can see that it will take 240 hours to transfer everything using the Internet. That is 10 days!
It turns out the best solution is to write the data to a removable hard drive and then ship the drive to our other office. As there is sensitive data we will be shipping, it is necessary to encrypt the data on the hard drive first. I could just zip all of the files together and require a password to unzip them, however that is not really very secure. So instead I am encrypting the files using GPG. It is a free version of PGP, which does an excellent job of encrypting the data. Now if the drive gets lost in shipping, we don't have to worry about data falling into the wrong hands.
So if you ever find yourself transferring large amounts of data, remember that sometimes it is faster to put it on a removable hard drive and ship it as opposed to transferring it over the Internet.
The the first step of the transfer is actually pretty fast. I have broken the data into 30 different files (all about the size of a DVD) to help streamline the transfer. Each one of the files only takes about 20 minutes to download to my workstation. The slow link in the process is from my workstation to our other office. That takes 8 hours per file. Doing a little math and you can see that it will take 240 hours to transfer everything using the Internet. That is 10 days!
It turns out the best solution is to write the data to a removable hard drive and then ship the drive to our other office. As there is sensitive data we will be shipping, it is necessary to encrypt the data on the hard drive first. I could just zip all of the files together and require a password to unzip them, however that is not really very secure. So instead I am encrypting the files using GPG. It is a free version of PGP, which does an excellent job of encrypting the data. Now if the drive gets lost in shipping, we don't have to worry about data falling into the wrong hands.
So if you ever find yourself transferring large amounts of data, remember that sometimes it is faster to put it on a removable hard drive and ship it as opposed to transferring it over the Internet.
Monday, May 14, 2012
I Forgot My Phone . . . Again
I was on my way to the airport this morning and realized I had left my phone at home. I did this once before and just took my wife's phone at the airport. Now my wife uses her phone too much to let me use hers and so I just got on the plane and headed to San Francisco for the week.
I sat on the plan and came up with possible solutions to not having a mobile phone with me for the week. I have a desk phone in my office and can use that during the day. The only time I need to be in contact with anyone is when I am back on my sailboat at night. I wasn't too worried about talking with my family because I have Internet on the boat and can use Skype on my computer.
I was kind of looking forward to being out of contact for a week. Then I realized that if there was a problem at work, they would need to get a hold of me. That left me with one of three possible choices:
I didn't need to buy a new prepaid phone as we have them all over the office and I could have borrowed one for a week. The trick was buying a SIM card with just enough minutes to last a week. I could have picked one up for about $20.
I ended up choosing the first option as it was the path of least resistance. There is something about having your own phone. Now I just hope they don't need me at the office tonight while I wait for my phone to arrive tomorrow.
I sat on the plan and came up with possible solutions to not having a mobile phone with me for the week. I have a desk phone in my office and can use that during the day. The only time I need to be in contact with anyone is when I am back on my sailboat at night. I wasn't too worried about talking with my family because I have Internet on the boat and can use Skype on my computer.
I was kind of looking forward to being out of contact for a week. Then I realized that if there was a problem at work, they would need to get a hold of me. That left me with one of three possible choices:
- Have my wife overnight my phone to the office
- Buy a cheap prepaid phone and just use it for the week
- Go to the AT&T store and replace my old iPhone 3G with a new 4S
I didn't need to buy a new prepaid phone as we have them all over the office and I could have borrowed one for a week. The trick was buying a SIM card with just enough minutes to last a week. I could have picked one up for about $20.
I ended up choosing the first option as it was the path of least resistance. There is something about having your own phone. Now I just hope they don't need me at the office tonight while I wait for my phone to arrive tomorrow.
Monday, May 7, 2012
My iTunes Account Hacked
Several weeks ago I got a receipt from iTunes in my e-mail. I knew that I hadn't made any recent purchases from Apple and so I looked more closely at the transaction. The receipt said that I purchased a $40 gift card for another user. I looked at the e-mail headers to make sure the e-mail really did come from Apple and that it wasn't some kind of hoax. Sure enough, it was legitimate and I knew my iTunes account had been hacked.
The first order of business was to log in and change my password. I was too late. The hackers had already done that and I couldn't even log into my account. The only thing to do was to get a hold of Apple and request their help. If you go to the Apple website and click on the support tab (upper right corner), there are a list of products. As the hack took place on iTunes, I clicked on the iTunes button and it took me to http://www.apple.com/support/itunes. I spent some time going through the various links only to discover they contained information on how to do things, not talk to a real person. There was a section at the bottom of the regarding the "Apple ID Support" with a link that said, "Start here." I gave it a click and there was a link on the next page that said "Contact Support." I clicked it and went to a page with yet another link. By this time, I figured they really were trying to keep people from contacting them by obfuscating how to really get a hold of them.
I kept clicking away and eventually got to https://expresslane.apple.com/Symptoms.do. The page asked for an issue description along with some other questions, which I filled out. I then had the option of signing into my iTunes account. Since my password was changed to something I didn't know, I clicked the "Continue" button. Underneath it had some text that said, "Without signing in." I was presented with 3 options (your mileage may vary depending on time of day): Phone, Chat, or E-mail. I was in a hurry and so I chose the phone option. It gave me a number to call, which I did. I was asked for some information and was immediately put on hold. Furthermore, I was told it would be about 20 minutes before they got to my issue. Not wanting to wait on the phone that long, I hung up. About 10 minutes later I got a call back from Apple and they were able to help me resolve the issue.
None of the money in my account was used to purchase the bogus gift card and so there was no need to re-credit my account. I was able to change my password and security questions. While I never did have any credit card numbers associated with my iTunes account, had there been, I would have made sure to remove them. While you may feel you can trust online merchants to store your credit card information, I reserve the right not to. After this, I will be very careful whom I let store those numbers.
The first order of business was to log in and change my password. I was too late. The hackers had already done that and I couldn't even log into my account. The only thing to do was to get a hold of Apple and request their help. If you go to the Apple website and click on the support tab (upper right corner), there are a list of products. As the hack took place on iTunes, I clicked on the iTunes button and it took me to http://www.apple.com/support/itunes. I spent some time going through the various links only to discover they contained information on how to do things, not talk to a real person. There was a section at the bottom of the regarding the "Apple ID Support" with a link that said, "Start here." I gave it a click and there was a link on the next page that said "Contact Support." I clicked it and went to a page with yet another link. By this time, I figured they really were trying to keep people from contacting them by obfuscating how to really get a hold of them.
I kept clicking away and eventually got to https://expresslane.apple.com/Symptoms.do. The page asked for an issue description along with some other questions, which I filled out. I then had the option of signing into my iTunes account. Since my password was changed to something I didn't know, I clicked the "Continue" button. Underneath it had some text that said, "Without signing in." I was presented with 3 options (your mileage may vary depending on time of day): Phone, Chat, or E-mail. I was in a hurry and so I chose the phone option. It gave me a number to call, which I did. I was asked for some information and was immediately put on hold. Furthermore, I was told it would be about 20 minutes before they got to my issue. Not wanting to wait on the phone that long, I hung up. About 10 minutes later I got a call back from Apple and they were able to help me resolve the issue.
None of the money in my account was used to purchase the bogus gift card and so there was no need to re-credit my account. I was able to change my password and security questions. While I never did have any credit card numbers associated with my iTunes account, had there been, I would have made sure to remove them. While you may feel you can trust online merchants to store your credit card information, I reserve the right not to. After this, I will be very careful whom I let store those numbers.
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