james kahn’s scratchpad

I just did my first run in my new pair of Vibram FiveFingers barefoot shoes.  It really is a liberating feeling running barefoot.  It made me feel like I was a kid again… I just wanted to run.

That was until my calves started reminding me that this was my first run “barefoot”, and I need to get more practice in.  I stopped at around 2 and a half k’s.  My calves are killing me now, in a good way.

I’m a huge believer in strengthening parts of the body that are underworked, rather than using band-aid type measures, such as inner-soles or heavily cushioned running shoes.  I see these as a great way to learn to run and work out naturally.  Actually going barefoot and stepping on sharp stones and glass isn’t really an alternative, so these are the next best thing.

There is a great article on the principles of barefooting at New York Magazine.  It’s quite long, but got me inspired.

When using vReplicator to replicate a Windows virtual server from one site to another, you don’t need Microsoft licensing for the target, as it is a powered off image.

Microsoft clarify this here (emphasis mine):

First, we are licensing by running instance, which is to say the number of images, installations and/or copies of the original software stored on a local or storage network. Instead of licensing every inactive or stored virtual instance of a Windows Server System product, customers can now create and store an unlimited number of instances, including those for back-up and recovery, and only pay for the maximum number of running instances at any given time.

It’s all very well swimming as hard as you can, but how are you ever going to know if you’re swimming in the right direction unless you stop and look?

If Border Collies are supposed to be so smart, why can’t mine figure out how to stay out of the rain?  Anyone want an unused custom-made dog castle (aka huge dog kennel)?

I did the 10km run in the Gold Coast Marathon yesterday with my wife.  I usually am not a big fan of running, but I enjoyed myself yesterday.  I clocked in at just under one hour (58:33).

Now we plan to do the Bridge to Brisbane in September.  Maybe I will train for that one

Well, I had my last day at Clariti/S Central on Friday.  Finished up with farewell drinks and a BBQ, in true Clariti style.  In a couple of days I start my new job - Australia/NZ Systems Engineer for Vizioncore.  Should be a lot of fun.  Vizioncore have some great products for virtualised environments.

Don’t be surprised if my blog gets Vizioncored all of a sudden!

I’ve got an HP multifunction printer (Photosmart 3310), with terrible drivers.  It works fine except for one issue - periodically the corresponding services on my PC spin up to 100% CPU, and stay there until I restart the service or reboot my PC.  If this happens when I’m not plugged into power it really eats the battery on my laptop.

Does anyone know of a tool I could use that monitors Windows services and restarts a service if, say, it’s been at 100% CPU for a minute?

I’ve recently become a big fan of the Getting Things Done methodology (GTD for short).  Simon Guest has a great writeup on how to implement GTD with Outlook 2007.

Okay - I’ve had this one in the pipeline for some time, and Paul’s comment about me not blogging enough has got me motivated. A bit unpolished, but what the heck.

Being a pre-sales engineer, I have a constant need to justify the solutions I put forward. Customers always want to know what they’re getting for their money - as they should - and are interested in the benefits that the solution will give them. The sales guys question parts of the solution so they can understand it, and the deeply technical propellorheads ask why we don’t just use some scripts. Aside: Don’t even get me started on how many stuffed up IT environments I’ve seen where techies slapped together a few scripts where they should have got the architecture of what they’re doing right in the first place.

Undoubtedly, whoever the conversation is with, it always turns to money. People don’t want to spend more than they have to.

But they don’t want shit. They don’t want something that won’t work. They don’t want cheap. They want something that is good. Something that suits their requirements. This is an almost universal maxim. Even if someone doesn’t realise it, deep down, people want something suitable for their situation.

Let me give you an example. Living on an acreage block, I need to do a fair amount of property maintenance. A few months back I was given a near-new Ryobi Electric chainsaw (worth around $100) which I’ve been using to keep my property from turning into a jungle. It has major issues. The biggest issue is that I’m limited by the length of the power cord. It’s also not very gutsy, and the chain is a huge pain in the ass to tension. It’s impossible to do it without the bar and chain popping off, and a long string of expletives exploding from my mouth.

As I found myself battling a branch from a wattle tree the other weekend, using three extension cords, chainsaw oil started leaking out all over my hand. “This is stupid”, I thought. The chainsaw was cheap - free in this case - but it doesn’t suit my needs. At this stage I’m planning on spending around $750 to replace it with a good STIHL model. The STIHL will cost around seven times what the Ryobi costs - but I will be happier. And safer.

While I used the analogy of a chainsaw, IT Infrastructure is similar. No matter what the requirement is, there will be any number of products, solutions, or workarounds to fit the bill. Each will have different capabilities. The solution that is chosen at the end of the day should be the one that is the best fit for the business - not the cheapest.

Let me leave you with a story.

A few years back I was having a conversation with a friend in New Zealand. Ray owns a successful company that provides project managers as a resource to large corporations in NZ. We were discussing his business over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

“Ray”, I asked, “how did you get to where you are? How did you build your business?”

“It’s not rocket science,” Ray replied. “My project managers are good, but they aren’t cheap. But people don’t want cheap - they want good“.