IE6 Funeral

Although this is probably a bit premature; I expect IE6 will still be around for a while.

From the “Memories” section:

Lynx is Not Attending

Ha! Now who’s your DADDY??? I’m still alive and kicking you weak young punk.

Via Daring Fireball: The Chess Master and the Computer

This is a review by Garry Kasparov of a book, Chess Metaphors: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Mind. I suspect that the review is better than the book, because Kasparov has some pretty good insights into the relationship between people and computers.

Eliminating bad complexity

Many organizations have enemies within. Departments and divisions care only for themselves. They will introduce complexity that makes the organization as a whole more dependent on them. In fact, the way modern organizations are structured rewards bad complexity.

Examples of bad complexity can be seen everywhere. Marketers and communicators don’t care if they make a website more difficult to navigate once they can push their message. Programmers will add more features to a product, not because these features are needed, but because new features show that the programmers have been doing something. Legal people don’t want you to understand legal documents because that would diminish their importance.

Bad complexity creates dependence. Good complexity creates independence. One of the things the Web reflects is a movement away from the production of products to the delivery of services. In a world of production the thing itself often dominates, but in a world of service the satisfaction of the customer dominates. In other words, in a service- driven world, the measure of success is not what you have produced, but rather how satisfied your customer is.

Sure glad none of that goes on around here.

Most people who read this blog probably already have some idea of how much knowledge, experience, and expertise the University lost when Greg Neunaber retired at the end of last month. Since talking to him and other current and retired coworkers at his retirement party, I’ve been pondering how the University has been able to recruit and retain so many intelligent and talented people. We all know it’s not the money, so what is it?
Money can be a powerful motivator, but there are other forms of compensation an employer can provide, especially an employer like the University of Texas. For example, there’s the opportunity to work with other good people, or to work with cutting-edge technology. There’s also the ability to continually learn new things and develop new skills. Perhaps the most potent compensation, however, is the feeling that you’re making a real contribution to something that matters—that the systems you work on make it easier for the University to educate people, expand the frontiers of human knowledge, and enhance our community, state, and nation. It can also help if you feel that the University’s leadership understands and values your contributions.
If you have any related thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments.

I’m finding the recent news about Google and China fascinating. Here’s the Register’s round-up: Google may exit China after ‘highly targeted’ attack, and here’s some commentary from Ars Technica: Furious Google throws down gauntlet to China over censorship. Also, given the mentions of Adobe in these reports, I can’t help wondering if this is related: Microsoft urges Windows XP users to ditch old Flash version.

This is totally brilliant: Apple Tablet To Redefine Another Industry.

Apparently so: Stuff I’ve learned at Microsoft

(Most) Screw ups are OK

So you did fail and made a fool of yourself. Maybe got screamed at by an executive. Your demo failed spectacularly in front of thousands of people. Your code change brought down the website.

Turns out that this is OK. Though it may not feel like it at the time, in fact, it is to be expected. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough. I get very annoyed when someone gets worked up over the small stuff. What are the odds that this will matter five years from now? Typically very low.

The biggest danger with getting worked up over the small screw-ups? Making people cautious. If your employees are afraid to break things, they’re going to stick to what they know. No one benefits from this – they don’t grow and you don’t get the best out of them.

Lots more good advice here. Some of it I need to take myself.

CSSquirrel: The Parallax Header: How I Do It

I’d wondered about that.

I love old tech stories: What ever happened to storing pics with electron cannons?

It describes the IBM 1360, built in 1967, which could store up to 116GB on photographic film.

Reg reader unlocks secrets of LHC restart

(LHC = Large Hadron Collider)

I found this interesting:

Chris has now created an “unofficial” LHC portal with links to all the various fascinating CERN webpages, which are at the moment so little known.

In a superb twist, Chris tells us that the main users of the LHC Portal so far are in fact CERN personnel, who evidently find it the handiest way of navigating around their own websites. The portal is now linked to from at least one of CERN’s internal sites.

Remember, the World Wide Web was created to help people at CERN manage their documentation.