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2008-02-23

What kind of dancing?  

A memory thought:

My 6 year old daughter was dancing (a few months back) around the house. I asked her what kind of dancing she was doing. At first I thought she said "tight cheek" dancing. I cracked up and asked here again what kind of dancing??? She stated "tai chi" dancing. ahhh....

Posted in , by LetMeBeClear | 0 comments

An Introduction of Sorts  

I am the wife. Sometimes I think that my hubby knows more about me because of my blog than any conversations we have had recently. Isn't technology weird? We use all of these time-saving technologies and end up with less time. It seems like the technology becomes more important than the life we are supposed to be saving time for. I think that a lot of things we do in life just obscure what is actually important.

I was one of those people. I worked long hard hours. I worked on big projects. I did interesting exciting things. I traveled to big places and wore business suits with short skirts and sensible shoes. I took all my luggage as carry-on so that I didn't have to wait for baggage claim. I knew the fastest places to eat. I worked really hard and got the job of my dreams.

The funny thing about that is that my first thought was "Wow, I should have dreamed bigger."

Now my dream involves a sailboat, warm water, fresh fruit and maybe even a bit of rum. I don't care if the code has a memory leak. I don't care if the root drive failed and somebody forgot to mirror it. I really don't care that the backup failed.

There I said it. I don't think that working as whatever for whomever is important. I don't think that the number of digits in my salary is important. I don't think that this quarter's numbers really matter.

I think it is important that the children I brought into this world are safe, literate, happy and healthy. Beyond that, I want to snorkel and live my life at a slow pace with no time-saving technology.

Sea-Fever
John Masefield

I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Posted in , , by Karen | 0 comments

2008-02-21

It's been awhile  

It has been awhile posting here. I had forgotten I had this blog. 

Quick review since last update:
Working at new Job, it was great for the last year till Nov timeframe.  I had been working with our internal training group looking at different technologies to provide ViLT (virtual instructor led training). First I was asked to look at free software, so I had looked into open source. 
What was needed: (all must run on Linux or Win32/64)
1. LMS for tracking individuals training
2. Quizzes
3. Flash and flash streaming support
4. DMS to store docs, ppt, flash based training  and quiz
5. Web conferencing used for collaboration, webcaming and desktop sharing
6. record #5 above for on-demand play back.


Tools already in use by client.
Adobe Captivate
Apple's XServe
Also recommended using VMware Fusion on the XServe, so that we could install Win32/64 or Linux into a virtual environment to pilot the software below.

I had downloaded, installed and played with Sakai and Moodle, which covered the LMS, DMS and Flash support.
DimDim was the web conferencing application, this also had Moodle support.

We settled on using Moodle + DimDim as our pilot. We were able to get all running, but it did require some creative band-aids (mainly due to stage of current releases at the time).

Then I was told that I would be moving to a new project, which caused a panic with the training group. They thought I would be there to support them. We discussed it would take to support if the pilot went to production.  We cover the plus and minuses of open source software (sure it's free to download and use, but if something breaks there is not much help for the non-technical person).

We started looking at the commercial software. We looked a few, but based on what was needed and currently used, I recommended Adobe Connect.
It is on the expensive side, but the Adobe support for the Connect product have been very quick and helpful.  And the Training group have been very pleased with the results overall. Now they want to implement company wide.

This was the project before Nov...  now the new job, I am not liking so much.  Maybe it's due to before I was given a task and left alone as long as my client was happy and things were getting done.   Now I am under new management (should I say microManagement, just seems like it) with meetings everyday.  Twice a week I cover with my manager on what I am working on :-( . Sure learning old technology with new name/twist/additional features (SOA), at least that is they why I am viewing it. Also SIP, which is cool.  When I got moved the group, I was asked what areas I was interested in. Programing was not on my list, but appears that this new job requires a programing background.  I understand the technology, but programing and I just don't get along. I am more of a sysadmin type. I like troubleshooting problems and telling someone else to fix the code.

I really want to go back and work with the training group.

-jac

Posted in by LetMeBeClear | 0 comments

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