Dave's Blog

Wednesday, October 22, 2003 4:39:30 PM

I have finally finished reading Bruce Eckel's draft of Thinking in 
Enterprise Java.  It gave me a good overview of the technologies 
involved in J2EE and how they interrelate.  It also gave me a healthy 
respect for the programmers who have chosen to dive deep into this 
subject.  Here we see a true specialty, a complete immersion in the 
specifications and conventions of a formal concept that is constantly 
evolving.  Now I can see how easy it is to make simple mistakes, 
based on assumptions or just ignorance of the little "gotchas" and 
the intimate details of Java, the container that is of interest at 
the moment, JDBC, JMS, XSLT, and the myriad other technologies that 
come into play.  There is probably no turning back, but the body of 
knowledge has become quite burdensome.  The Java language is only a 
starting point.  Whatever these wizards are paid, those that have 
mastered the concepts deserve every penny.  

I can also see that my specialty is quite different.  As a system 
administrator, the knowledge set that I have cultured over the years 
is complementary, but not part of, the knowledge set that these 
master programmers have developed.  It is good for me to know how the 
application software interacts, but it is even better that I 
understand when a problem originates in the software and when it 
originates from an outside condition.  That is my strength.  Just as 
it does not make sense for a system administrator to tackle full-on 
the duties of a software designer, it does not make sense for a 
programmer to tackle full-on the duties of a system architect.  These 
two world views are complementary.  


Monday, October 13, 2003 11:08:12 PM 

There is one Mind in the universe.  It is the medium through which 
cause transforms into effect.  It is everywhere, and it is whole, 
perfect, and complete.  

I am one with that Mind.  My mind is part of the universal Mind.  

I know that what I declare is the power to this Law of cause and 
effect, this omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent Mind.  What I 
declare, as part of this Mind, becomes real through its action.  I 
therefore recognize that I am whole, perfect, and complete, as It is.  
My personal existence is a manifestation of this whole, perfect, and 
complete order, the universal Law, universal Love.  As such, my body 
is a temple, and it is also whole, perfect, and complete.  My eyesight 
is clear, my nervous system works perfectly, my hearing, my sense of 
smell, my sense of taste, my sense of touch, all work perfectly for 
me.  Every cell of my body regenerates, and I see the visible 
evidence of that regeneration every day.  My health is the 
realization of the perfect harmony of the Universe, revealing itself 
through me.  

I am grateful and happy that I have chosen to manifest consciously, 
that my health has returned and that my daily living is now more 
clearly and obviously a manifestation of the perfect order of the 
living Universe.  I feel the goodness surging through me, the 
endorphins and the pheromones and the myriad chemical cycles that 
support my health and vitality.  I feel the joy of knowing, 
confidently, that all is well in my body and in my world.  

Now I release my word into the perfect action of the Law, knowing that 
what I have declared is now true and manifest, that I have set a new 
cause into action, and that action shall return to me fulfilling in 
every possible way what I have claimed.  I release, and I let go.  I 
let the Spirit run my life.  

And so it is.  


Thursday, October 09, 2003 9:51:32 PM 

Everyone wishes to meditate with me.  Margaret noticed yesterday that 
as she meditated all the telephones started ringing.  Tonight, as she 
and I meditated, the same phenomenon happened.  People called for 
treatment.  People left voicemail messages.  People called our home 
as a wrong number.  After our meditation session was done, the phones 
were quiet again.  


Wednesday, October 08, 2003 10:11:00 PM 

In the Up Front column of the October 6, 2003, Business Week is a 
graphic showing relative salaries of electrical engineers with five 
years' experience.  Approximately:  

	San Jose     106,400 USD
	Hong Kong     39,000
	Shanghai      11,000
	Mexico City    8,000 
	Bombay         5,000

Let's look at this from the Rich Dad perspective instead of the Poor 
Dad perspective.  Markets have a degree of efficiency, even global 
markets.  Software industry observers bemoan the loss of jobs to 
India and China, partly because of that market efficiency.  However, 
I recall that 5% of our software development is being contracted to 
foreign companies, and that a 1% increase in our foreign contracting 
results in a 50% increase in their volume.  In market size we're big, 
they're little, and most of the work is still being done here in the 
United States.  So what makes the San Jose engineer's work 20 times 
as valuable as the Bombay engineer's work?  

There is a serious cost-of-living differential between San Jose and 
Bombay.  But I don't believe the multiplier is really 20.  After the 
exchange rate, commissions, and overhead, I have heard that some 
companies barely break even.  But I believe the engineer in Bombay 
lives a more modest lifestyle than the San Jose engineer, as well.  
The Bombay engineer probably doesn't have a two-bedroom, two-bath 
condo to share just with his wife.  

I once read a joke about a British visitor to India.  He was riding 
the railroad on a tour of the country, when the train broke down.  
He watched the engineer tell his assistant to fetch a tool box.  The 
assistant picked up a bicycle that was in the engine cab, and rode 
to the other end of the train, picked up a tool box from the caboose, 
and brought it back to the engine.  They fixed the engine, and then 
the assistant took the tool box back to the caboose.  Everything 
fixed and back in place, the train resumed its journey.  The British 
visitor asked the engineer, "Why don't you just keep the tool box in 
the cab?"  To which the engineer replied, "My assistant has a family.  
He makes a decent living, and he is well trained in the position of 
an engineer's assistant.  This is his job.  If we moved the tool box 
to the engine, this fellow would lose his livelihood."  

I'm not saying that this is how Indians think today.  But I am 
saying that very few Americans have even a clue how Indians think.  
Or Chinese, or even Mexicans, for that matter.  They may speak 
English, and take specifications and deliver product, but is the 
product the Americans receive the product the Americans think they've 
ordered?  And how many engineers does it take to do the job, given 
the definition of "engineer" in the foreign country, and the 
complexity of the organization that rises to support them?  

An American can call himself a technical support engineer if he feels 
like it; there's no regulation governing that term.  When I was 
consulting with Siemens, the company retitled all the technical 
support engineers because in Canada there was a regulation that 
governed the term.  Since Siemens, operating in Canada, had to show 
that anyone called a technical support engineer actually had an 
engineering degree, they retitled the job as a technical support 
analyst.  Many Siemens employees in San Jose were disappointed with 
the change.  It's just a word, but perhaps you can see that even in 
neighboring countries, speaking what we believe to be the same 
language, there can be significant differences.  

I think there must be a way to market this San Jose talent.  We can 
deliver worldwide services from San Jose as easily as from Bombay.  
We can deliver worldwide services from anywhere as easily as from 
Bombay, that's the point.  Let's find the talent wherever it is, 
and connect that talent to the customers who need it.  


Wednesday, October 08, 2003 7:26:35 PM 

Current count of the California recall election results:  

For the recall (against Gray Davis):  4,188,199 
Against the recall (for Gray Davis):  3,476,841 

Rank      Name                     Votes    
 1        Arnold Schwarzenegger    3,694,436 
 2        Cruz Bustamante          2,421,319 
10        Mary Carey                  10,017 
34        Georgy Russell               1,938 

Arithmetic evidence that more Californians will vote against 
someone than will vote for someone.  


Sunday, October 05, 2003 12:56:16 AM 

A few notes to catch up on what has been catching my eye lately:  

Physical security counts:  Thieves walked out with two mainframes at  
Sydney International Airport in Australia recently.  The technique is 
clearly described by Philip Comford of the Sydney Morning Herald.  

If you want a job in software engineering, come to California!  The 
San Francisco Business Times reported a Software & Information 
Industry Association survey showing the highest concentration of 
software jobs to be in the following metropolitan areas:  

	1.  Boulder, Colorado 
	2.  San Jose, California 
	3.  Washington, D.C. 
	4.  San Francisco, California 
	5.  Seattle, Washington 
	6.  Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina 
	7.  Austin, Texas 

No surprises here, and it seems to me that the character hasn't  
changed much in the last decade.  

Small business counts:  The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 
small business constitutes 99% of all private sector business in 
San Francisco.  The 108,373 small businesses generated 52% of the 
City's jobs in 2000.  They generated 19,202 new jobs, and had a 
collective annual payroll of $15.8 billion.  Self-employed persons 
accounted for 60%, or 67,911 businesses.  The article goes on to note 
that the concept of a small business is not well defined.  

Hewlett-Packard wants Sun's business.  With 30-day loaners and 
$25,000 worth of professional services for businesses that switch to 
Linux on H-P.  This announcement was made the same day a Merrill 
Lynch analyst broadsided Sun in public.  I can't take it personally, 
since I unloaded Sun stock when it hit $13.  But still I have a 
sentimental feeling for that company.  

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