mental block...and a nice bedroom design ;)

Hello world... (he... since my years playing with Basic that I wanted to start like that...)

Now seriously, I'm bit blocked here, it seems that anything you think about these days is related to sharing, improving, saving or just plain cutting... I like the idea of improving, so let's start there...

What's the definition of improving?... well google the all knowing super entity says: "Make or become better"; so let's start from there... much to munch in it already...


So let's go for the other topics...Sharing, saving and cutting....


What if we just improve everything? Imaging a room, if you want to improve a room what would you do? to start I would make it comfortable, and nice, then functional and then ... well, then probably enjoy it... so, what would be improving the room for me? exactly what I said... (stay with me...). 


To make if more comfortable, what would I do? 

1. get a nice comfy bed,
2. probably a nice looking desk,
3. oh! yes, will make sure the heater/cooler work in the room so we have a nice temperature
4. a chair, you always need a chair to dump stuff when you are tired..
5. 2 bedside table, yes, that looks nice...

So, then we go to make it nicer:

1. paint the room
2. get a nice window (or change it, repair it, etc...lol! be careful with the guy's speech)
3. and probably put some carpets to make it a beauty...

And finally we make it functional... really? well, no, we actually try to make it functional at all times.. and this is where improving is really the key part...

So, we were making the room comfortable... let's do it in a functional manner...

1. get a nice comfy bed, -> look for something related to the room size, that helps your back, and will help you sleep, that is functional... and you will only need to buy a bed once, and will last for a long time. Check that the bed is following overall international standards, and guidelines, so next time if you need to change the mattress, it really does fit...
2. probably a nice looking desk, -> aha! great topic... depending on the size and style you choose why not go for a matching desk... so next time, you might like a desk that hides all your paperwork and your work life when you are trying to sleep...
3. oh! yes, will make sure the heater/cooler work in the room so we have a nice temperature - And here it comes how to make it functional, yes, functional means green, cost effective, etc... so you will look into insulating the loft and the walls, checking the central heating, verifying that you have a good duvet that works for your personal thermostat, etc etc. make it right the first time, and you most probably won't have to spend too much money later... and hence, not cut so much...
4. a chair, you always need a chair to dump stuff when you are tired.. and here comes the nice analogy... usually many companies dump their old legacy, or their operational rubbish on the closest "chair", so you end up with a huge pile of stuff that is not needed but nobody wants to bin... So, get yourself a nice basket for the laundry and a big bag for the charity shop... if you don't like it any more, send it to the charity shop bag, if is dirty to the laundry basket... and if it is clean and you like it... store it nicely :) That what you should do in your bedroom, and in your company!! 
1. Charity = deletion or archiving depending on the data or system you are working on.
2. Laundry basket = enhancement needed, but it is a needed device/dataset
3. Store it = that's it...keep it, is working fine!
5. 2 bedside table, yes, that looks nice...- and they do... but what you need to find here, is those little additions that will make the big different... 

So, brain dump finish, I think that give an idea of what it was up here in my head... so unplug and have fun!

Who was it?

Hi Guys,
This week has been pretty good so far, I've spoke with very interesting people and learnt a few good things.
Today in the morning, I got an article from the BCS about public sector and security. At first, it look pretty average, and just explaining the usual topics that relate to security when any company is downsizing (really old word I know..) in search of efficiencies and cost reduction, as much as the UK government is doing now.

So, what did I find so interesting? Well, we have been reducing, looking for efficiencies, cutting costs and spending again around the globe for...well, forever!! So, what we have learnt that we could re-use? Who was the security guy that looked after the warehouses in the big crisis around 1920 that provided a secure place for the goods even though he lost half of his security guards? How did he manage? Or the question should be, did he actually manage to do it?

So, as we (yes, me and half of the world population) says, google it! Check if you can find something... so I did... and I did, and I checked again... and then I realised that my weak and silly brain was not going to get the right search phrase to get me the results...Therefore, as one of my ex-colleagues and good friend used to say, "if you cannot find it all, just guesstimate!"

Let's pretend that there was a group of security personnel on the banks in the US in 1920, and that they got rid of 60% of their staff due to the crisis... so at that time, most of the activities were manual processing and physical security, so what would they have done? Here is my list:

1. change the locks on the safes
2. change the locks on the doors
3. get pictures of all the people that left and identify them every time they came near the bank.
4. rotate the remaining security personnel (john at the door works near the cashier now, and the guy inside the safe works out at the main door, etc.)
5. get a risk assessment for each of the profile of person leaving
6. advise all the bank service people or staff that provides services to the public of the risk assessment.
7. try to automate any security changes to minimise people knowing the safe combinations, etc. (for example, without a machine, you could get 2 people having half of the combination, so if any of them try to provide it, the other needs to give the other half, etc.)

And I'm sure there are loads more, but this will come handy for my comparison.... so then, there have been several other crisis around the globe, but have we learn anything? I think so... at least in concept.

Nowadays we do have a better set of tools, and a much more open environment to discuss this topics (wanting or not, if you don't open, they will open it for you)... so let's talk about security and technology... and a wee little caveat before to start: " This is not the magic solution, just a brain dump" ... so be kind but do comment... ;)

1. Change the passwords to all critical servers (the safe this time is virtual, so take care of it!!)
2. Change the passwords of all outside facing servers and devices (yes, if anyone is trying to get in, they shouldn't have the key already!)
3. Identify who has left, and you might be able to get a little program monitoring for anyone trying to use those accounts (even though you already cancelled them, destroy them, etc.)
4. Get the firewalls a wee refresh, so kick those beautiful firewalls and get them with new keys, new algorithms, etc... it is free and very easy to do. Do you have the alternative to refresh the monitoring systems? Well, check that you are monitoring what you need to, and add a little check for all the users gone.
5. Assess your risk, here is the tricky part nobody can have a full body scan and brain scan to check what they were thinking when leaving, but create a table and define levels of risk... For example, if the guys managing firewalls leaves the company upset and annoyed with everyone, that might be a higher risk than the CEO of the bank leaving after getting a sweet bonus
6. Get a little check for these guys computers, and advise the ranks that you are adding tighter security methods. Even if they are just a batch file checking on logs for the webservers and so on... If you can and have the money, invest in a good centralise monitoring system, with nice reporting features, etc. that will help you loads.
7. Automate, automate, automate!!! A long time ago, a security expert asked me:

Sec expert: Do you know what causes most of the data breaches? 

Me: curiosity?

Sec Expert: Nope, feelings! , people get upset with the company and get against them. second one is curiosity.

Sec Expert: And do you know how many feelings do computers have?

Me: none!!

Exactly!! none, automate, the system will not feel betrayed if you do something wrong, and with a good IdM system and a clear role definition you need to annoyed loads of people before the system gets any of that... so automate!! That is the best way, computers don't turn against you, humans do.

So, have we learnt anything? Conceptually yes, but I think that we are humans (luckily, life will be too boring with only computers around me), and that means that many times we "forget" to apply the simple rules and we end up in a big mess... or we just get stuck thinking on operational, everyday activities and never look into the more important topics that will save us time later... or well, you get the picture...

OK, brain dump time gone, back to work...

Agile but not stupid...

OK, the world is a better place because debate happens and exchange of opinions ... so, live and learn, or at least refine your opinions and knowledge... will be silly not to.

Anyhow, from my previous post "Before you call anyone know what needs to be done!!" I got a few comments back on email, the one I really got into was from a very good friend and ex work colleague (well, he was actually my boss, but don't remind him of that); he was following up on the research comment... 


And guess what? He was right again, research is great, but as he said "With a solid first phase of research, you got to get actioning to refine what you finally gonna get.. what you cannot do is to take a decision and be completely stuck on that till the end (without understanding the changes the new developments might bring" (my own wee little change in there)... this trigger another thread of discussion... and a very much word in the industry now... Everyone wants to be agile, Agile project management, Agile development, Agile life, Agile companies... etc etc... 


This is great don't get me wrong, action is what the world need, but hey! let's try not to be agile and stupid!... As my dearest ex-boss said, with a solid first phase of research, you got to get moving... and I agree, we need to be agile, fast, or you will end up deploying something that nobody needs any more.


So, I start thinking where to draw the line...  when should we stop research and start moving... uhhhmmm... and kept wondering... and thinking (ok, not such a clever guy after all)... and never ever got to an answer... and I think I know why, and will all depend on what you care about... Which are you ultimate goals, either they are financial stability of the company (or yourself), achieve a specific target (build a house or get petrol for you car), but that got to be the driver.


So, for example, if I need to get a new piece of software for accounting, I need to understand what am I gonna get from it in 1 year, 3 years, 5 and probably have a crazy idea of what it could become if I need to grow my company to a world class organization... So, what do I start? Well, let's see what big apps use in most cases, and what most big companies are using... will my accounting software become the ERP of the company later?, etc... you get the thought process. So, if we decide that the accounting system will grow to become the ERP, what gives me most of the options? probably keeping it on open standards, so more apps can be used to access it, and it is easier to move between vendors if need be, etc.... and even if we don't grow, keeping it open will help it use more cost effective strategies (cheaper options for the friend from the hood)... 


So there you go, another idea that escape my brain through my fingertips... Thanks to Heberto for the debate/discussion... always learning from him.


One last comment... the discussion is still ongoing, and as everything in life it goes on teaching me a bit every email... but as Seth's blog said this morning, there are risks and benefits to everything, and those should come as part of the overall selection of goals (short/mid/long term) and tools we will decide ...

Before you call anyone know what needs to be done!!

OK, yes, I'm back, Twitter is great, but doesn't leave enough space for me to play...

So, new year resolution, let's try to write up a bit about life and technology, and perhaps from time to time, a couple of good (or so I think) jokes...

"Before you call anyone, know what needs to be done!"
2 weeks ago, whilst rushing to get the xmas lights out and make the house look pretty again for the festive season (yes, I was a bit late with the snow and all) I found an old yellow pages... With the big sign written on the front page, "Before you call anyone, know what needs to be done!"... I thought it was genius... With so many tools at our fingertips, why not research before you pay...
Hence, I start thinking that this can translate to many areas of life... Imagine, you want to get a new car... hey! why not just go to the dealership closer to home and buy one... or just call them up and ask them to send one over... NO!!! not a chance, that is too much money, so let's research first, get the car we need for our needs... do we need a 4x4? perhaps with the snow, it might have been useful to have one... do we need a frontwheel car? surely... so keep researching and getting to the right one...

Same thinking applies to everything, but many times it looks like because we become a corporate citizen we forget about it... So, if you do it at home... you should do it in the office...

Imagine you want to buy stationary, when you buy for home, you think twice, you check which pen/pencils look nicer and which paper will give you the best quality for your photos, etc. without spending a fortune... so why not do the same for work?
Now let's talk a bit about cloud services (they seem to be what everyone wants to talk about today); so you decided that the first guy who came up on the web will be your cloud services provider... really?
Have you consider everything? Even more important.... do you know what needs to be done?!?

Start thinking what is your "Cloud" for?
- Will you use it for running the Office productivity suite?
- Have you consider that you might want to use several formats? pdf/odf/doc/etc? Do you need all the formats you are using?
- Do you want to use it for HPC? If so, what are you going to do with it? Is your code ready for it? Can you use something like Azure?
- do you need a Storage Cloud? Just getting rid of archiving, backing up and so on will be so nice... wouldn't it? But, can you move your data anywhere? Are you geo-bound?

So as you can see, much research to get done... but the best approach as most of the times is to follow Jack, and just rip it apart to get it right... so start by deciding which is the main goal... then decide what levels of openness/closeness you need to run the company (look into all the legal docs, or involved you legal department, perhaps someone who has a clue about IT will help), decide how green you are or wanna be, then look into alternatives and learn their benefits and limitations...

Is it an Public cloud good for you?

• Do you hold confidential data? 
• Do you provide services for medical institutions or financials? Can they afford to not have 100% control over their data?
• can you hash your data? 
• Which levels of performance you need?

Is it a Private Cloud for you?

• Do you have expertise to run the cloud?
• Can you provide the levels of security you need? If so, do you have everything you need?
• how green do you wanna be? (yes, I know it repeats)

Is it an hybrid cloud for you?

Well, to be honest, I'm bias... From my point of view, most companies need a hybrid approach to cloud services, design their own Cloud architecture based on their own business needs, and then build/buy/collect each of the building blocks for it.

So, once you did your research and you "know what needs to be done!" then who are you going to call? Well, Ghostbusters are really busy these days, so look to your research and check for a company that can add value to your design. For example, have a broad approach creating very rough building blocks, then from there try to get a couple of companies to work the next levels for you. Decide your ERP architecture and get two good, known companies to design the implementation and sign off on it... That will give you peace of mind, and many of the big companies provide the service for Freee!! (oh! well...)

So come on, even if your company is a big one or a small one, you need to know what you are talking about.... and nothing better than getting to read and research... 

Some pointers:

Berkeley's views: http://berkeleyclouds.blogspot.com/

Oracle Clarifies Cloud: http://goo.gl/f9nTa

And Wikipedia on Cloud computing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

But none of the links above replaced our friendly pair of Googles

Cheers, and let's see if I keep my new year resolution... beside losing those 7 Kg.... 

Pablo.-

Twitter is the way to go...

Hi Guys,

Long time wihtout writing, and I will take the lazy excuse this time and blame it on the lack of time... Yes, now the way forward is to throw quick comments and share information on twitter...

 

So, come along and follow me on Twitter!! http://twitter.com/hache_the_boss

 

See you around!!

 

Pablo aka -H-

short and sweet...

check my twitter page, there is loads of more movement there now... cannot cope with two my brain is not that good anymore ;)

To tweet or not to tweet...

I'm guilty... what can I say, I'm a lazy person, I've always been and I will keep being... is that bad? Well, not sure I get loads done quick because I want to have time to lay down.. :P

Anyhow, I found a very lazy way to connect send informaiton, share information, get information, etc etc... Twitter!!! yes, I'm becoming quite active now... I used it in the past, but wasn't very good because I didn't have all the right people to follow, and it was taking me several days to get to the information I wanted... but the combination of Twitter, with some of my readers is great...I can get information out to people I care for, and I can get information from them (and a bunch of others!!).

Anyhow, this goes more to ... do you remember when people were saying that Internet was going to isolate people? Well, completely the opposite, innit?

My twitter account: hache_the_boss...

Let's connect, and share the world :P ... coming soon, how to end the information/knowledge era, and start with the link era...

Cheers! and never stop having fun!

Fwd: Introducing iPad.

Interesting email, and nice to post it... it looks awesome, really cool, and I truly believe will be good to watch the next Harry potter... now seriously, which is the real use of it?

 

Rgds,

Pablo.-

 

From: Apple <News@insideapple.apple.com>
Date: 28 January 2010 12:14
Subject: Introducing iPad.
To: pablo.jejcic@gmail.com

iPad. Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price. Starting at $499. Learn more. TM and copyright © 2010 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 83-DM, Cupertino, CA 95014. Some features and applications are not available in all areas. Application availability and pricing are subject to change. This device has not yet been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained. TM and copyright © 2010 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 83-DM, Cupertino, CA 95014. All Rights Reserved / Keep Informed / Privacy Policy / My Info If you prefer not to receive commercial email from Apple, or if you've changed your email address, please click here.

Fwd: Merry Christmas from your Google team!

I thought it was a great, amazing, perfect idea!!!

Go, Google go!!

-- Pablo


Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach  - "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day."

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Your Google Team <google-noreply@google.com>
Date: 2009/12/24
Subject: Merry Christmas from your Google team!
To: pablo.jejcic@gmail.com

Merry Christmas from Google           Hello, As we near the end of the year, we wanted to take a moment to thank you for the time, energy, commitment, and trust you've shared with us in 2009. With sharing in mind, this year we've decided to do something a little different. We hope you'll find it fits the spirit of the Christmas season. We're looking forward to working with you to build lasting success in 2010. With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, Your Google Team

 

 

 

Happy Xmas, and Be safe... IT wise...

Hi guys,
Long time, busy bee... what can I say, not much really, loads of shopping experiences... you now that a normal female shopper can stay in malls, 3 times the time than a male shopper ;)

Anyhow, I tghought about sharing  great article on IT Security, and breaches for 2009.... should help on strategies and ideas for 2010... which for sure will have more of these ones, and more controls to put in place...

So here it goes, very nice Article

Have a safe, fun nice, warm (on the snow) great Xmas... and an even better start for 2010!!!

SAD - Drugs can be collaborative?

I red this article today from the NYT, and I was thinking... how sad... a drug company is not usually one that is lacking in funds, they get money from charities, from other drug companies, they get research funds (yeah, I know, the fund research temselves as well); and the more we become a panic based society, the more money we give them...
Now, based on a change in law (that might cut theiir profits), they go into a rampage raise in prices...

Once I finished reading it, I thought, what if we the public start pushing for a cooperative approach to drug usage? A group in Scotland (in Findhorn), created a self sustainable community which brought up together a lot of very good concepts... and Jeff Jarvis (I know, I am kinda stuck into WWGD) mentioned it already... let's try to get a self managed, public demand based drug company. As we will know what the researchers are going for, and will be a lot more transparency, we will be able to chose better which drugs to take, and channel research better as well... and at the end we should be able to see better pricing (or at least more sensible one) based on what the community needs.

Maybe I'm getting too far, but I really think that this drug companies are taking the p... anyhow, just my first brain dump for the day...

LoveArgentina Party - Sat' 14 Nov'

Association of Argentine Professionals in the United Kingdom

 

Dear Members,

 

If you haven't yet, you may still book tickets for:

LoveArgentina II' Charitable Party, Saturday 14 November - 5 pm

 

For booking information, please see below or attached file.

 

As to the our two other recently publicised events, let me share with you that the UK Premiere of Argentine Rock Legend - Litto Nebbia in Concert, Sat' 7 Nov' was a total SUCCESS while the Argentine Wine Tasting, Thurs' 12 Nov' is now SOLD OUT. 

 

 We look forward to seeing you at the LoveArgentina party and please accept my appreciation for your continued support.   

 

Judith A. Cherni

Chair

 

LoveArgentina II' Charitable Party

Saturday  14  November -   5pm till 11pm

This event is organized by Loveargentina in conjunction with APARU to raise funds for the "Fundacion Sicilia" a scholarship program for children in Salta, Argentina.

 

You will have an opportunity to enjoy live music, learn tango and have a taste or typical argentine food products, and fall in love with Argentina!. Tickets: £10 when purchased in advanced

 

Venue: 1 Ropermaker Street (Digress), London EC2Y 9UE

 

Get your tickets online at: http://aparu-loveargentina.eventbrite.com

 

ITIL - 100 questions you always wanted to ask...

I couldn’t help myself…really cool book:

“The Process of Six Sigma’s make-it-right-the-first-time, combined with CMM’s what-to-do, and ITIL’s how-to-do-it makes ITIL, CMM and SiX Sigma a powerful combination training tool for any organization. After all, quality products and services are still virtues any organization should have”

Control? was that says SI?

This is quite cool, and a very good indicative on how Control in the google era is not that easy anymore, anyone can publish a twitter, or even just say somethign to a friend that will blog it, etc... and the whole wide world know about it!!

Read on, very interesting (even though I don't particulary care if Agassi used drugs or not, as long it wasn't during the games) ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/media/09couric.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

cuac!!! When I  already finished this, I read a twitter from Jeff Jarvis on control again... really funny, I still get amazed how people cannot get it sometime.. really stupid!! read on: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/09/murdoch-google

Twitter...

Yes I know, I'm an old geek, and can't help it... well no. i got into twitter now, I haven't been before because I've been very busy for the last ten years (polite way of saying that I was lazy)..

Anyhow, http://twitter.com/hache_the_boss will drop small bursts of greatness, or at least a bit of pain that we all suffer every day... (or fun, smiles, etc etc).

Pretty cool toys to access it on several platforms, really good. so, how's your day today? follow me... ;)

WWGD When “the hood” comes to the internet?

OK, I finished... I read WWGD, from Jeff Jarvis and I got into a lot of information... really interesting, estates loads of information (not only data, carefeul choice of words here). But I did something odd, I started in less than 5 minutes to read another book... ( I know... I do categorise myself as an information addict, and that includes books... and to make it even worse, I was on a plane.. so not much more to do), I started with "Barrio de Belgrano, Porque te quiero tanto?" (Belgrano Neighbourghood, why do I love you so much?, a book that my mum wrote and it is really cool... hehehe). the book goes into trying to describe the feelings and sense of pertinence of a neighbourhood, from definitions to songs, to places, and pictures in our minds... not only from enjoying the place, but from sharing those with friends, and not so much friends around the house where you grew, lived, etc.... Now I got into some themes:




- "the hood" gives a physical pertinence to a feeling of pertinence... (I hope it makes sense), basically, it keeps your mind in a particular set, and help you to share with a group of determined people that you already know they share your own “hood”…. So now that we get into a global hood, with people from different cultures, how are we going to relate with people (before we talk to them, you know those hints that they are from you side of the town…)

+ Physical pertinence is easy, you see people all the time, want it or not, you will have a relationship with this human beings around you, but hey! Let’s think a bit more… in a virtual environment, in a G era, in the internet, we don’t need to relate to everyone (thanks the lord, there are too many), but we choose who we relate to… so in the future (or now?) our hood, is made up of people that gets with us, because they have similar needs, wants, questions, or maybe is the people that gives us guidance and tells us what to do in life… So, to be decided, is our all concept of the hood, is that any better, because we learn from everyone (in the area) not only the people with similar mindsets, or the virtual hood is better because we get to know who we want to create our hood?

I think as we will see below, the virtual hood can only work based on openness, and great transparency….

- the second thought I got was linked but not directly to the first one, so we linked to people, and work with people, and share life with each others, and even have virtual relationships… but do we generate the group of friends from the neighbourhood? Can we really reate that group of friends that no matter how many years pass on, we are still going to be related to?

+ I think we can create our own virtual hood on the web, and live connected to people all the time, feeling connected at least, and at the same time, create that “cheekiness” when we relate to them, but as Jarvis says we need to based it all in openness if we don’t share everything, we miss everything…

Now what is better, I think it will depend on personality and mindset… for example, a shy guy that doesn’t believe on creating connections, etc….. Well, he might need to feel protected to start his own hood….And, yes, as you might guess by now, I don’t think it will be the same concept, we will share pictures, experiences, conversations, but the feeling of neighbourhood will only come from the collective feeling of share experiences, not from a location like it used to be…



Will this be a great virtual place? I don’t know, it will be a collection of the views of each others hoods, into a share view of the global hood… I have friends from places that are (literally) on the other side of the world, but I do still related to them, feel them close, and even oddest I still they are part of my hood…



Anyhow, my brain dump for today, and creating my virtual hood, with my friends, my store, my advisers, and the gossipers around ;)
 
Pablo
PS: Errors and mistakes have been deliverately dispersed on the test for enjoyment of the critics...

WWGD - again, another cool idea...

OK, I know I might be becoming a bit nnoying now... but hey! the book is pretty cool! so, I'm still reading WWGD from Jeff Jarvis (the guys at buzzmachine) - so, I got into the chapter about google money and investing... And I was trying to move it a bit further in my mind...

OK, so think about a group of people with same interests, so for example, the people at GoodPeople they have a great community of people with cool hobbies... so why not getting them into voting for new entreprenuerials ideas, like a great cafe, or some new t-shirt... and then a step more, why they don't "donate" a few $$ (not much, what about 10 U$D?) and the pot will go to the most voted idea... internal or external to the company?

So what do you think?

Russia, Cuba... they love the same than Norway?

I was looking into my reader today, and amazing how interest for a new product can behave... so look into M$ Windows 7... (who just came out today out of the darkness), a guy blog (let's be polite Philip Elmer-DeWitt) about it as well, and found that Norway, Russia, Cuba, and several other countries outside Europe and the Us have bigger interest on Windows 7 than the traditional IT countries.

Now, do you think this is due to the more IT traditional countries are moving into alternative OSes (like in LatinAmerica)? (Please God let it be true!!) or is it just that the US and Europe are being conquered by Apple ;) ?

Basic rule: Always, Always do a backup

Hellooo,
Sad day for the IT industry... or at least for one of the new comers... hey! wait a second, that's not right... MS has being with us for a long time (for our sins, or glory). But, this huge mega company, make mistakes (loads of thems...).
Now they broke one of the basic rules of IT support, "whatever you do, do a backup first!!", or the classic, "you only have what you back up!"... and MS has nothing of their sidekick DB nowadays... or for what it is worth, probably no procedure to do the backup neither

so read, and cry.... Sidekick used to be quite a popular system, I wonder if they will still be alive after this...

Perhaps get a BB or an IPhone (and remember to do your own backups...)

Business as usual for Moody's and S&P - Oct. 9, 2009

Hi, just after my post, I read this article... and I was wondering... Basics like if it giving you too much money is risky, and don't spend more than what you earn come to mine a lot faster than S&P ratings, adn trying to blame someone else... Anyhow, good reading... Click the following to access the sent link: Business as usual for Moody's and S&P - Oct. 9, 2009* *This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser. http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/09/news/economy/ratings.reform.fortune/index.htm