Dave Cockrum is Dead

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Updated: later in the day ...

• Dave Cockrum on Wikipedia
• Dave Cockrum tribute site.

40 Facts About Sleep

You probably know these ... or not ... but here's 40 facts about sleep from the National Sleep Project in Australia. Notice when I posted? Yes, I'm going to bed now.

The Soul Of A New Microsoft

Today's Microsoft propaganda is brought to you by the following quote:

"The only way to change the world is to imagine it different than the way it is today. Apply too much of the wisdom and knowledge that got us here, and you end up right where you started. Take a fresh look from a new perspective, and get a new result." J. Allard, Microsoft VP of Design & Development

Read more.

Malachi Ritscher

Malachi Ritscher doused himself with gasoline on the morning of November 3rd, along a busy highway in Chicago. He then proceed to set himself on fire, burning to death. His self-immolation was witnessed by morning commuters. No doubt, Ritscher had issues -- but his suicide message describes his act as one of protest of war, the mayhem the US is perpetrating around the globe and an American culture more concerned with TV and cellphones than the future of the world. Self-immolation doesn't happen everyday -- let alone in protest. Surprisingly, his act has been largely ignored by the media. Ignored that is, until bloggers started protesting the media's treatment of the story. The media's response? Cover the protest by the bloggers.

Read more.

Christian Coalition Surprised

Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition was in for a surprise at their latest board meeting. President-elect, Rev. Joel Hunter, declined the job and quit the organization. Why? You're going to love this: apparently, Hunter wanted the organization to focus on issues of poverty and environment, and couldn't get the organization to quit talking about abortion and gay marriage. Ha!

13 Things That Do Not Make Sense

New Scientist magazine has a curious little article about 13 things that do not make sense. Read the details of why these things continue to puzzle some rather brilliant people:

1. The Placebo Effect -- your mind really does work in biochemically mysterious ways.
2. The Horizon Problem -- the universe appears uniform, everywhere you look. Yet it it's so large, there is no way energy could travel from one side to the next to make it so.
3. Ultra-energetic Cosmic Rays -- we're detecting some really powerful particles hitting the Earth from outer space. Only problem is, we can't find the source.
4. Belfast Homeopathy Results -- homeopathy works, and no one really knows why.
5. Dark Matter -- the galaxy isn't falling apart, so there must be something holding it together. Yet we can't find it.
6. Viking's Methane -- in 1976, the Viking lander detected carbon-14 containing methane in the Martian soil. Signs of life?
7. Tetraneutrons -- in 2002, scientists discovered particles in a particle accelerator that shouldn't exist. Dubbed tetraneutrons, the particles consist of four neutrons bound together, defying the laws of physics.
8. The Pioneer Anomaly -- launched in the early 1970s, the Pioneer spacecrafts are now at the edge of our solar system. Something strange is happening however. The spacecrafts are either being pulled or pushed by some unknown force, making them speed up.
9. Dark Energy -- the expansion of the universe is speeding up. We don't know why. Let's invent something we can't see to explain it.
10. The Kuiper Cliff -- after passing Pluto in the solar system, you enter the Kuiper belt, filled with remnants of the formation of the solar system -- icy rocks mostly. The Kuiper belt however, ends rather abruptly. Why? Is there another large planet out there?
11. The Wow Signal -- in 1977, we recorded 37 seconds of a radio signal from the direction of Sagittarius. Was it ET? No source for the signal has been found.
12. Not-so-Constant Constants -- the laws of physics employ a whole lot of constants. Were they always the same value however? Or are they changing over time? Observations from deep space suggests the constants aren't really constant.
13. Cold Fusion -- yes, it never went away. Is it possible?

Too Fat

What's wrong with one of these models? Well, in a reality TV show to find the next hot model in the UK, one of these women were described as having a sensational body for modeling, while the other was criticized for being fat, not taking her food and exercise regime seriously, and wanting to prove that large women could be successful models.

The anorexic blonde has a body mass index of 16.1, while the "fat" model is a size 12. How fucked up is the fashion industry? Very. And this is what they're selling to females.

Indian Rape Victim Burned to Death

15-year-old Asha Katiya of Madhya Pradesh, India, was doused with kerosene and set ablaze by her rapist, as she lay sleeping in her home. Asha comes from a lower-caste family, and she was raped by an upper-caste man in July. She reported the crime to police, and she was set to testify in an upcoming court appearance. The man threatened to kill her and her family if she didn't drop the charges against him. She refused. He murdered her.

As Asha laid dying from her burn wounds at home, her family tried to get a car to drive her to the nearest hospital. The cars in her village all belong to upper-caste people. None helped. A vehicle from another village eventually drove her to hospital where she died.

As far as India has progressed, the society is still ass-backwards. For all their aspirations to become a prosperous nation, there is still a large portion of the population who are not being included in the benefits of modernization -- who are not getting justice. Asha Katiya is yet another example of those who are purposely being trampled on; who's existence, India sees no value in.

Watch a video report of the incident.

The New Philanthropy

In recent times, there has been a marked shift in the nature of philanthropy. The givers are more wealthy, the goals they are pursuing are larger and their approach is much more than just throwing money at the problem. Philanthropy is no longer about bequeathing wealth to charitable organizations after death -- it has become the pursuit of massive social change in a lifetime. The new philanthropy is money, but money with the know-how that created those riches, focused on the problems of disease, poverty and making the world a safer place for future generations.

This year, the new philanthropy was exemplified by Warren Buffett's announcement that he will transfer $31B US in the coming years to the Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation. The money isn't being doled out without a catch. The Gates', like others, are pursuing their charitable interests in person. They applying their business knowledge to ensure their charitable investments don't just solve tactical problems, but provide sound strategic returns. Take microfinancing for example. The seed money that charities provide also come with assistance on how to apply the money to build solid organizations that can be self-sustaining. As Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank puts it, charitable dollars "shouldn't come in a way that will discourage people from finding a local source. Otherwise, you don't discover your own strength."

The new philanthropy stand a chance of reaching some of those lofty targets they've placed before themselves. In the past, charitable investments in the poverty stricken countries have largely failed because of a lack of knowledge and execution investment. The money went into a black hole that served the self-interests of the various pockets it flowed through -- or to further the political ambitions of the donor countries. With the new giving, the accountability may be coming to ensure the corruption seen in the past don't occur again and derail the chance of success.

Mistakes Made on the Road to Innovation

Product innovation is trouble enough for most companies -- so how does an organization go about innovating strategy? Good question, and it is one that is facing Eastman Kodak. The company was in a death spiral a few years ago, as it watched its film business take beating from digital photography. It undertook a radical organizational shift in response, and came back with a slew of digital camera offerings. Problem is however, the company continued to bleed money. The digital camera business was rapidly commoditized, and margins were nothing compared to what Kodak enjoyed in the heyday of the film business.

CEO Perez has a radical idea to pull the company up by its bootstraps -- and it's nothing short of reinventing the company. He wants to remake Eastman Kodak into the Apple of imaging. If he fails, another giant will take a plunge. The odds are against him, with the market already betting that he doesn't have a chance of success. What Perez is trying to get Eastman Kodak to understand is that it isn't in the business of film or cameras, but rather images -- and with that, he is hoping that products and services will start flowing.

Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops

There is a darker side to globalization. It's the one that usually get people up in arms, demonstrating at Gx Summits, trashing shop windows and generally acting like terrorists. Manufacturing is now well ensconced in the developing nations, with China owning the bulk of it -- and it being responsible for the Sino ascent to a global powerhouse. That manufacturing however, comes at a price -- one that we like to pay, while we don't like seeing how the transaction unfolds. The labour abuse by Chinese manufacturers have long plagued western companies, as their customers enjoy the low prices and berate their operations for taking advantage of lax labour laws. Social conscience it seems, doesn't always extend down to individual wallets.

Meanwhile, to appease customers, western companies have foisted western labour standards on Chinese manufacturers. No child labour. No undercutting of local minimum wage standards. Overtime work for overtime pay. No excessive work hours. Problem is, Chinese manufacturers are being squeezed from all sides. On one hand, the low manufacturing costs must be maintained, which means to raise standards, profits get culled. Labourers, especially from rural China, demand extra hours, overtime pay or not, so they can make as much as possible. If the extra hours aren't given, they leave to other manufacturers who are more flexible. Then there are the western companies that descend on their operations with regular audits.

This squeeze drives Chinese manufacturers to adopt elaborate schemes to cheat. Cook the books -- or better yet, have multiple books. Outsource part of their operations to other manufacturers who aren't under scrutiny. Coach employees on how to answer auditors questions. Hide child labours when the auditors arrive. The tricks of the trade has created a mini-boom in audit consultancy in China, where for a fee, consultants help manufacturers pass audits -- usually by any means necessary.

Western consumer hypocrisy of course isn't about to change, so the game will continue. The Chinese government doesn't intervene. Western companies are aware of the cheating, but as long as their manufacturers pass their "audits," they've got nothing else to do. What we in the west fail to understand is that we can't have it both ways. Developing nations are just that, developing. Theirs is to toil endlessly for little compensation, so we can enjoy our standard of living. This isn't necessarily wrong. They have something we don't. They have cheap labour. It won't last. It's already rapidly changing. We will be in for a shock when the "Made in China" sticker no longer means cheap.

Read more in BusinessWeek -- and see related content from the Fair Labor Association, a independent organization that monitors developing world factories in use by western companies, and provides transparency into their operations.

Who Controls the Economy?

Economists are facing a conundrum. National economies are falling more and more under the influence of globalization. In the recent past, the United States was the broker of the global economy, being able to flex its financial muscle to ease the pain not only in the US, but sometimes elsewhere in the world. That elevated the likes of Greenspan to economic godhood. Now however, the US is flexing, but the global economy is no longer responding the way it used to.

Welcome to globalization, where it is not only money that is flowing easily around the world, but so is labour, ideas and innovation. A brilliant idea in the US for example, could be funded by Europeans, for prototyping in India and cheap manufacturing in China. What control does governments now have? Individually, just about zero. Future macro economic policies will be dictated by the collective influence of national economies around the world. This is drives a world view with no past precedence. The future stability of national economies will depend on countries around the world being able to collaborate and work together. Almost sounds like we need a economic body like the UN.

Read more in BusinessWeek.

Let the Africans Die

Kim du Toit wrote in 2002 that we in the west should just accept that we can't do anything about Africa and let them sink or swim on their own. du Toit claims living in Africa provides one with a casual temperance for death, and that Africans don't value life as much as we do in the west -- so we shouldn't value their lives any more than they do. Du Toit is a twit.

The casual disregard we have for our fellow people is not limited to Africans -- it is pervasive across the world. It is in our very backyards. It continues today in conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, the former Soviet Union, and in Europe, in race and religion related violence. In North America we see it in the disregard we pay to our aboriginal population, to the treatment of the poor citizens of New Orleans in Katrina's wake and in way we don't see the homeless begging on our street corners. It is most evident however in the disregard we in the west have for Africans -- and nowhere would you find a better example than du Toit's words.

We in the west have a responsibility to Africa -- as we have a responsibility for our fellow humans on this planet. We are, all of us, in this together. There is no us and them. There is just us. The planet has shrunk in my lifetime, and it is a shortsighted view to not see past our national borders. Everything flows freely across borders. What ails Africa, ails us. Du Toit says, "if the entire African continent dissolves into a seething maelstrom of disease, famine and brutality, that’s just too damn bad." What a shortsighted, narrow-minded view.

Our responsibilities for Africa is there because our western society pillaged our riches in part, from Africa. We didn't just take material wealth, we took Africans and cursed their society with a social debt that we've yet to repay. We did that to them because they were Africans. We did it to the Asian countries. We did it to the natives of the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. We have a responsibility to help -- to try.

As du Toit points out, we have failed repeatedly to help Africa. True. Surprisingly however, South Africa has emerged as the first nation of the African continent. It has done so primarily because of the white population there, that was long championed by European states to the detriment of its black citizens. During the apartheid history, there was a South Africa for blacks and another for whites. Within that country, there was a stark difference in the quality of human life. Just as there is in Canada when you compare our native population with the general population. Is it because natives in general have a general disregard for their own lives? No. It's because we have a general disregard for their lives. Just as we have a general disregard for the lives of anyone less fortunate than ourselves.

Africa is a more worrisome case because of our failed and often misguided attempts to alleviate the suffering there. We've grown tired of trying to help. We've also grown into a society that craves instant gratification for our bouts of charity. We want have to heal itself when we do the easy thing of throwing so cash their way. Inevitably however, that cash never amounts to much -- or never reaches those where it could make a lasting difference. At the same time that we throw cash their way, we continue to feed the disease that plagues the continent. We continue to buy the compliance of African governments, turning a blind eye to their abuses so we can drain their oil or mine their mineral riches.

We have failed Africa because there really is no interest in saving Africa. And the reason we have no interest in Africa is because, as du Toit points out, there are only Africans there.

Sunni vs. Shiite

Who are these people that are busy killing each other? Surely no one wants to be killed, yet the armed thugs on both the Sunni and Shiite sides in Iraq are busily lowering the population of the country by butchering each other in revenge killings. This isn't just a fight for control, this is a fight of hate. These people hate each other. No one is beyond their reach, as men, women and children are slaughtered. Muhammad would not be impressed. Read more.

The Corporation on BitTorrent, Free

The Corporation, a Canadian documentary on "the dominant institution of our time," takes a look at how corporations started, how the evolved and what they've become today. The documentary looks at how corporations gained legal status as an entity -- essentially gaining the rights as a person -- and takes its analysis to the logical end by studying the institution's behaviour from the psychological perspective. The documentary is engaging. I've personally seen it twice in the theatres. It is also very scary, and may be an eye-opener for those working within corporations.

Recently, the makers of the Corporation have decided to make a download version of the film freely available online via a BitTorrent download. You can find the torrent here. While the filmmakers are making the film available for free, I do encourage you to purchase a copy -- after you've seen the film and if you think it warrants a purchase.

Meows

I have a cat. She meows. A lot. She meows when we're walking down the hallway to our condo unit. She meows hello when we walk in the door, throwing herself on the floor and rolling, begging for petting. She meows when she wants her food. She meows when she wants to play. She meows when we all leave downstairs and come upstairs for the night -- even though she knows where we are, she wants one of us to come get her. One of my daughters eventually calls to her, before walking downstairs to pick her up and bring her up with us. Usually, it's my youngest. My older daughter just went downstairs to get her after the wailing started. I swear, when my youngest get off the bus on the corner of our building, our cat knows and starts meowing for her.

Our cat meows for many different reasons, but it all boils down to one thing: she wants us to do something, and meowing eventually gets one of us to do something. With me, it's to chase her around the house so she runs away and hide. Cat owners know this. What we may not know however, is that our cats meow just for us. It's their second language. It's how they speak to humans. Cats you see, don't talk to each other in meows. Instead, they communicate with gentle "mews" as kittens to mothers, obscene caterwauls for mating, chattering when hunting, hissing when warning an intruder and shrieking when in pain. Meows it seems, was developed over time, to cat to interactions with humans. Follow this link to find out what your cat is trying to say with her meows.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

For those of you, for who Christopher Reeve will be the only Superman, there's about to be a whole lot more coming to a DVD release near you. Not content with milking the public on the latest from the franchise, Warner Bros. will be releasing the Christopher Reeve Superman Collection and the Ultimate Superman Collection for this Christmas. What's special about these collections? The latter includes the Richard Donner cut of Superman II, a film that was refilmed, reedited and changed completely from the original filming of Superman II. Yes, there was pretty much two Superman II movies made. One that we all saw, and the other that was lost, until now.

The 13 Most Embarrassing Web Moments

PC World Magazine has a top 13 list of the most embarrassing moments that have made it on to the web. I question the veracity of the list, but nevertheless, it's quite entertaining. Enjoy. The best, IMHO, is the Monkey Boy dance. A classic that I had forgotten about, but enjoyed thoroughly once more.

HIV Prevalance

This was created with maps from WorldMapper. Check out the maps, and try and figure out what's wrong with this picture.

Toronto Maple Leafs Game Schedule on Google Calendar

I'm messing around with Google Calendar, and I've just created a new one -- publicly open for everyone to see. It's the Toronto Maple Leafs 2006-07 game schedule. It's really created for my wife, who is the greatest Leafs fan I know. Now she won't miss a game, and I will know which nights I can actually take her out. If you have a Gmail account, you can access Google Calendar, and you can include this one easily into yours. Click the button to see the calendar.

Separation of Church and State

CorrenteWire has a post that should serve as another warning of the continued descent the United States seems to be on -- the descent that will see the merging of the church and state. They already hold the sway in political discourse, and are certainly not afraid to proclaim their allegiance to the church first, themselves second and their constituents third. In the post, a Republican loser in the recent election, congratulates the Democratic winner, and encourages him to bring Jesus into his world and let Jesus guide his path. The only problem is, the Democratic winner is a Hindu.

Rape: Weapon of War

If you've seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, you may recall the scene where Paul Rusesabagina visits George Rutaganda's camp after the Interhamwe has overrun the country. The camera pauses briefly as Paul sees a cage, where nude women are kept. If I remember correctly, as the camera pans from the cage, it leaves a scream behind. Most will not want to think what that scene was all about. Most will know. It was a silent recognition of what has happened, and what continues to happen in Rwanda and the Congo -- the systematic rape and brutalization of women and girls -- victims of war; hostages of the conflict; possessions; and worse, targets to be sexually neutralized for genocidal and psychological purposes. If there is a hell, these women are living it. If the world has heroes, this is where they are needed. If you're human, you will try and do something to stop this from continuing to happen.

Newsweek has a graphic article on the topic. It describes the rape being used as a weapon of war, where victims range from babies to the elderly. It describes what happens to the rape victims after the armed men are finished with them. Newsweek prefaces the article with the following warning: "Do not read this story if you are easily disturbed by graphic information, or are under age, or are easily upset by accounts of gruesome sexual violence." Do not take this warning lightly. The article describes fistulas -- irreparable damage caused to the walls that separate the vagina, bladder and rectum -- and the systematic way the violence is perpetrated against women and girls in the conflict. Read the horror here.

Confused About Kyoto

The Conservative government has managed to embarrass Canada on the world stage with their latest misleading messages regarding Canada's support of the Kyoto Protocol. You've got to wonder, what were they thinking? Do they really think the world is as dull as the voters that put them in power? Or is this Harper's effort to continue building his niche in Bush's behind? Because if anything, Canada's back-pedaling on our obligations to the Kyoto Protocol has only served to distract the world from the even more shameful example being set by the United States.

Harper's has been demonstrating his diminutive intellect ever since he took over the Tories and started campaigning against the Kyoto Protocol -- vowing that if elected, he would reverse the Liberals support of the Kyoto Protocol and Canada's commitments. Even though the Tories have yet to release their climate change policy, it is quite clear which direction they're heading in -- and their behaviour at Kenya is the latest evidence of where they're heading. The majority of Canadians think that supporting Kyoto is in our best interest, although in oil country -- where Harper enjoys most of his support -- the majority thinks Kyoto needs revisiting. In placating the west, Harper continues to do more damage to this country's reputation abroad, just as his pal down south is doing.

Harper has two more years, and if he needs any indication of what voters will be doing to him, all he has to do is check on what just happened to his mentor. If he's so inclined to match Bush's moves step-for-step, voters will be only too happy to oblige.

Confused by Harper

Harper is a strange man. He is quicker to pucker at the mere whiff of George W.'s dusty Texan, yet continues to do his best to be a nag at Jintao's capitalist excursion at every opportunity. Doesn't he realize that Bush has two more years in office? Which if the Democrats have their way, will be keep Bush quite subdued -- yet Hu will be in power for, well, as long as Hu damn well pleases. Doesn't he realize who the next superpower is going to be? And that China will emerge as the leading economic power within his political career? Why does he continue to do it? I for one find it hard to believe that Harper gives a rat's ass about human rights in China -- so I'm at a complete loss.

Mostafa Tabatabainejad

Mostafa Tabatabainejad is a UCLA student, who was tasered repeatedly by police when he didn't leave the library immediately after he was told to. He was told to leave the library after he couldn't produce his student ID card during a random police check. He's a UCLA student who just happened to forgot his student card. There isn't much more detail available, as neither Tabatabainejad or the police are talking. If I can hazard a guess however, I'd say the name says it all: Mostafa Tabatabainejad.

Update: Here's a six-minute video of the whole incident.

Stupid People on TV

Really, only stupid people ever end up on TV. Take this interview that CNN's Glenn Beck did of the newly minted congressman, Keith Ellison. The following transcipt is posted on Media Matters, along with the video:

BECK: History was made last Tuesday when Democrat Keith Ellison got elected to Congress, representing the great state of Minnesota. Well, not really unusual that Minnesota would elect a Democrat. What is noteworthy is that Keith is the first Muslim in history to be elected to the House of Representatives. He joins us now. Congratulations, sir.
ELLISON: How you doing, Glenn? Glad to be here. BECK: Thank you. I will tell you, may I -- may we have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards face up on the table?
ELLISON: Go there.
BECK: OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I've been to mosques. I really don't believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I -- you know, I think it's being hijacked, quite frankly. With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, "Let's cut and run." And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." And I know you're not. I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.
ELLISON: Well, let me tell you, the people of the Fifth Congressional District know that I have a deep love and affection for my country. There's no one who is more patriotic than I am. And so, you know, I don't need to -- need to prove my patriotic stripes.
BECK: I understand that. And I'm not asking you to. I'm wondering if you see that. You come from a district that is heavily immigrant with Somalians. And I think it's wonderful, honestly, I think it is really a good sign that you are a -- you could be an icon to show Europe, this is the way you integrate into a country. I think the Somalians coming out and voting is a very good thing. With that --

Emphasis my own -- since Keith Ellison you see, was born in Detroit.

The Executive Colouring Book

The Executive Colouring Book -- I'm not saying anything else. Click the damn link.

IT Led Business Process Improvement?

Business Process Improvement, Process Reengineering or Business Process Management -- by whatever name you call it, it's the same thing -- the systematic and continuous improvement and adoption of processes throughout an organization, aimed at efficiency, flexibility and adaptability. First introduced in the 1990s by Michael Hammer and James Champy, BPI had its time in the limelight, and faded like a fad. Under the new moniker of BPM however, the fad is back, as consulting and software vendors attempt to sell more products and services. BPM has its promises, but I'm a skeptic of its potential, as it aims to do something almost inhumane to people. That hasn't stopped the sales people from calling however.

One such salesperson is Roger Burlton, who seemed to have had his way with CIO Magazine's Meridth Levinson, because her article in the November 1st issue is nothing more than Burlton's sales pitch -- which Levinson backs up with selected evidence from successful CIOs. Burlton's pitch is that BPM initiatives should be led by IT because:

• so much technology is involved
• IT will have a hand in automation, and
• IT has the best vantage point (across business silos).

The reasonable answer of course, is that there is no one approach that will fit all companies. I'll give that in some (rare) organizations, where IT actually has credibility, trust and is treated as an equal partner, they can actually lead BPM initiatives. In most organizations however, this is not the case. A gulf still exists between the IT department and the rest of the organization. Even if the CIO is a business executive who reports to the CEO, the trust hardly ever filters down to the trenches of the organization. In most cases, IT continues to be viewed with suspicion -- and the perception that the department is staffed by technology dweebs with nary an ounce of business blood in their veins is hard to shake. And who can blame the business for having such perceptions? When most projects fail or fall short of expectations, who's at the forefront with that dazed look? IT. Who has to enforce the ever popular security and audit policies within an organization? IT. Who's there every time a damn system fails yet again? IT. The success doesn't matter, unless the IT organization does a good job of marketing themselves. People inevitably always remember the negatives. Let's face, we all like to whine, and IT makes for good fodder, whether they deserve it or not. So why would you ever want to put IT in charge of a major reengineering effort that BPM spells, when the odds of their success are stacked against them?

Then there are the business processes. Business processes are owned by the business organization. Who knows the processes, the levers and the measures? The business. IT doesn't. IT doesn't run the organization. IT is a service provider. Having IT lead BPM initiatives is just as silly as having an external consulting company (such as Process Renewal Group) with no knowledge of your organization's business processes, come in to reengineer those processes. Can you imagine the outcome of such an endeavour? An organization with lighter pockets and that WTF-just-happened look on their faces when the initiative is over. Then they scrap the results and go back to doing things the way they've always done them.

The business needs to lead BPM initiatives. From an organization change management perspective, who better to make the change a success than the very people who needs to accept it? Credibility and trust is already there. Who else should have that frank conversation than the people across the silos, who will have to adapt and change to the reengineered world? Who is responsible for generating the revenues from those very business processes that are changing? The business. The business letting anyone else lead a BPM initiative is abdicating responsibility because it's just too stomach churning to face.

IT is an enabling force -- not a process engineering force. Burlton uses the analogy of IT providing data storage as a service to demonstrate how IT can provide process analysis, modeling, design and automation services. It's a dumb analogy. Storing data on a server is not the same as process engineering. There is a business process in place that leads eventually to data (the what)being stored. That business process not only defines what needs to be stored, but also why -- among many other things. The level of complexity from data storage to business process modeling are vastly different -- and you do actually need to know the processes you're modeling.

In the supporting arguments that Levinson provides via four CIO stories of BPM successes, you will notice one very important thing. While they are CIOs and are responsible for an IT organization, their IT organizations are far different from the traditional IT organizations. Before you start buying into what Levinson and Burlton are selling, ask yourself this simple question: does your IT organization resemble any of the ones described in the article? Now check your answer with your business peers.

The Art of Influence

You can't get anywhere in business without the ability to influence people -- convince them -- to follow, to lead, to just do what needs to get done. This may be obvious to a whole lot of us on reflection, but you'd be surprised how many of us don't actually practice the art of influence to get things done. Often, due to time constraints or impatience, we fall back to the standards that should work, but hardly ever. Appealing to logic, correctness and authority often fails, and the reason it does, is because people are naturally distrustful of change. Whatever you're trying to convince them to do is not something they're already doing, so why should they do it now because you want it done?

People do what you want them to do because they trust you -- and trust doesn't come free, it comes with work -- it's earned. The only way to earn trust is by establishing relationships with individuals -- which takes time. Trust is capital that you need to have in the bank for when you need withdrawls. When you need to influence someone is the wrong time to try and build trust by establishing relationships. Obvious stuff, right? So how come more of us aren't working on relationships?

I'm often reminding folks that something may be the obvious and correct thing to do, but it will never get done if the individuals you need to help from don't like you -- ie., don't trust you or don't have a relationship with you. However, people who trust you and have a relationship with you, will help you accomplish the wrong thing if you ask them to. Influence is incredibly powerful, and CIO Magazine has a short article that profiles four individuals stories on how they influence others. It's not a bad read to remind us why influencing skills are good to have.

Polish Student's Fundamentalist Experience

What do you expect of America when you travel from across the world to spend six months as a foreign exchange student with an American family? For 19-year-old Michael Gromek, he certainly didn't expect the family to try and banish the devil from his soul -- but that was exactly the hell that greeted him when he landed at the airport in North Carolina. Little did he know that his host family's only interest in him was to use him to spread the fundamentalist baptist word -- Gromek was supposed to go back to Poland to help build the church and spread the faith.

The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre Library

Want to waste some time? Just a little time? Then checkout Angry Alien Productions' recreation of some famous movies, lasting 30-seconds and starring bunnies. 'Nuff said.

PocketMod: Personal Disposable Assistant

PocketMod -- who needs a PDA when you have this nifty little application, built on Flash, that allows you to create your own paper-based PDA. You can equipe your new analog PDA with pages to write on, games to play, yearly calendar and more. And just like a digital PDA, when you get back to your computer, you can sync it up with an analog to digital converter: your fingers and the keyboard. You can also find a PDF-to-PocketMod converter that will convert any PDF file into the PocketMod format, allowing you to carry around large documents in an easy to manage PDA format. This is absolutely cool!

A Dragon in R&D

The face of globalization continues to evolve. First, it was low cost manufacturing from the developing nations of the world -- cheap labour, low quality. Well, the quality has improved, and so has the skills of the labour. China is now looking beyond manufacturing. What's next? Innovation. A combination of ruthless capitalism, still cheap labour, lax intellectual property protection, government encouragement and national pride is transforming China. While the masses aren't being educated to challenge the world, there's enough up and coming with a University education that have the potential to take initiative and be creative. China is rapidly changing from a country with no only a large manufacturing base, but also a growing niche in technology innovation.

Amazon's Risky Business

A lot of people seem to be wondering just what Jeff Bezos is doing with Amazon. BusinessWeek has the scoop on Amazon's services play that has been evolving over the past few years. Amazon is betting that it can turn the powerful infrastructure that runs its online retail store into a services offering, and in so doing, make a play as a utility company of the internet. Think of it as Amazon wanting to be the equivalent of the electric, water, gas, etc., company for your home and business. They've had to develop the infrastructure for their online store, with excess capacity to handle the spikes in their business -- most of the time however, a fair bit of that capacity sits idle. What Amazon is going is turning their excess capacity, which more or less is the utility for online businesses, into services they can sell. It's catching on -- slowly -- and if Bezos' bet pays off, the long term windfall will be huge.

Bush and his Poppy

The UK Times has an entertaining psychobabble analysis by Andrew Sullivan, of George W. and the fate that has brought him where he is today. Sullivan focuses on Bush's relationship with his dad, Poppy -- as Bush Sr. is known to family members. As Sullivan puts it, it's a tale suitable to a Shakespeare drama.

Convert or Die

Left Behind: Eternal Forces has hit the shelves just in time for Christmas. In the videogame, based on the popular novels by Tim Lahaye, gamers will take on roles in either the Tribulation Forces, a Christian army, or Global Community Peacekeepers, a UN like peacekeeping force led by the anti-Christ. As a Christian soldier, your goal is to attempt converting those who are not Christian, to save their souls for when the Christian god returns -- failing that, fragging their asses is justified. Who needs saving? Well, the usual heathen suspects: Jews, Muslims, Hindus -- basically, anyone who isn't Christian. All of this takes place in the oft battered New York City.

Christian mythology has always been good fodder for entertainment, and I'm quite sure the premise of the Left Behind story makes for a great videogame. I am concerned however about the marketing of the game. The game is being pushed heavily to Christian kids via evangelical channels. Christian parents concerned about violence and sex in video games are being encouraged to give Left Behind: Eternal Forces as a Christmas present this year. What would make a better present for the season that one with a message? Unfortunately, the message is the problem. This game is yet another example of the continued extremism, and marginalization of Christianity. For parents concerned about the potential damage of videogames to their kids, I offer the same advice I would offer to those concerned about other violent games: don't ban your kids from playing the games -- play it with them, but also engage in open dialogue to present context. While popular (violent) games are motivated to make as much money as possible, Left Behind: Eternal Forces is motivated on spreading divisive propaganda.

So this is Christmas ...

My wife introduced me to Operation Christmas Child a few years ago -- and for the second year, my team at work has taken on this annual form of giving as our year end "team event." As most teams in the workplace, we usually participate in the annual ritual celebration -- Christmas time is the time of the year when most of us let go of the grinch, and extend ourselves to others. Instead of doing the usual however -- lunch or dinner -- we've decided again, to pool our resources and send gift boxes to children in developing nations. This year, I had a larger team than last year -- so while we managed around 25 boxes last year, this year, we're sending 40 boxes to children in impoverished nations.

The Operation Christmas Child program is operated by the Samaritan's Purse Christian charity organization. Now I have to state up front that they really do push the Jesus thing. And if you don't already know me, I should tell you that I'm very, very far from being religious -- let alone Christian. This isn't about being Christian or the pushing of the Jesus dope on kids. This is about putting a smile on a little one's face, who may not otherwise have a reason to smile. Regardless of your religious affliction, this is about giving hope, that somewhere out there in the larger world, someone cares. So I tolerate the Jesus pushers, for the children. If you aren't convinced already, take a look at this video. (And if you're still not convinced, you need to relook at the person in the mirror and perhaps do some searching for the human that should be there.)

I know the Christianity thing will rub most of you the wrong way. If so, there are many other ways to give in a socially responsible way. A quick search on Google will provide you with way too many options. One that my wife again introduced me to is the Canadian Food for the Hungry International (CFHI) organization. CFHI is another way to make a direct impact -- to make a difference to individuals in the developing world. With donations to CFHI, you can send money to help with education, health care and sustaining families. You could, for example, purchase fruit tree seedlings, rabbits and other farm animals, for a family. These are provided with the knowledge on how to develop the gifts to not only feed the family, but also to take the excess to market for sale. With CFHI donations, lives could be saved, communities could be made better. My family used CFHI for Christmas presents last year.

This Christmas, perhaps we should all take a moment to pause and ask ourselves what our needs really are. What do we really need? Do we really need more to consume, or can we give each other the gift of helping to make our world a much more caring and prospering village.

"So this is Christmas, and what have you done?"

Related reading:

• The State of the World's Children 2006: Excluded and Invisible - Abused and neglected, millions of children have become virtually invisible (UNICEF).
• Poverty Facts and Stats

Criminal Charges Against Rumsfeld

Not that it actually means much, but Rumsfeld will probably not be traveling to Germany any time soon. Germany's top prosecutor will be seeking a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, George Tenet and others in the US military, for their part in the torture of 11 plaintiffs who were prisoners Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. With Rumsfeld resigned, he's no longer accorded immunity granted to senior government officials. Getting the US to take the case seriously however, is another matter. First, the US is one of the few countries that don't adhere to the International Criminal Court -- and second, if the US allowed the prosecution, it would set a precedence for future legal action against other US government officials.

Lest we forget, there are those in the world who are way beyond the reach of the law.

UN Human Development Report 2006

The United Nations just released the 2006 Human Development Report -- subtitled, Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. As the subtitle implies, the focus of the HDR is on clean water and sanita