http://triactassociates.com/blog Triact WebLog Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:12:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en  I'm a little late to the party when it comes to unified messaging - but let me shine a light on the path for those of you who may be farther behind than me:  I got all my home telecom (phone/internet/cableTV) consolidated over the last month with the installation of ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/11/13/voice-convergence/  I'm personally amazed at the amount of literature comparing Software development to building construction (e.g. - http://twoalpha.blogspot.com/2006/04/software-development-is-like-building.html) and of course there are detractors who point out the flaws in the analogy (e.g. - http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/3/13/211831/159), but I think both the advocates and detractors each miss an important issue:  Not all types ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/11/13/software-is-like-construction-really/   Thanks to my son's history project this semester, I tripped across a term I think is relevant to what I've been seeing in the technical workforce over the past decade:  "Liquidation of labor".   Henry Ford shocked many of his contemporaries by creating a program providing employees the opportunity to earn a ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/11/11/labor-liquidity/ Lots of advertising on TV about the February conversion to Digital broadcasting.  If you don't listen carefully to the "fine-print" (anyone coined a comparable term for the audio equivalent), you might think you need to upgrade your cable service (if you don't already have digital cable).  Folks reading a blog ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/11/07/dtv-if-youre-reading-this-you-probably-arent-affected/ It's been a great couple of decades for the manufacturers of microprocessors (computer chips).  Computers have become so ubiquitous we don't even notice they are there - yet most consumer appliances now have them, from DVR's and set-top-boxes to washing machines and microwave ovens. And the computers we think of as ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/11/07/help-for-the-household/  OK, it has to be humorous to see the 10-day gap between this post and my last post pointing to how what is important isn't always what's urgent and urging us all to focus on what's important.  Hmmm. . . So what does that say about how important I think ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/11/07/so-much-for-daily-discipline/ I'm finding myself in a daily struggle to stay focused on what is important and managing the constant distraction of what is urgent.  What's the difference you may ask?  Urgent is the customer calling with a server down or a critical bug in their software.  Important is taking the time daily to ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/10/23/important-is-not-always-urgent/ I was looking for tools to generate site maps for web sites, and because SEO is hot right now (see post from last week), there's certainly plenty of search results.  Academia is wonderful because in the interest of generating knowledge, things are built that through the magic of the internet ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/10/07/free-can-fit/  Because I'm in the software business, I frequently get asked if our company works with a particular tool or technology - and often these questions are litmus tests to qualify my company for work with a client.  In a day of automated screening of resumes by keywords, I fear we ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/10/02/who-builds-better/  Market turmoil has everyone thinking about cash flow - which is certainly a constraint faced by every business - but the foundation for making good investments in your business is still Return on Investment.  Although it is tighter for many businesses today than a year ago, cash flow has always ... http://triactassociates.com/blog/2008/10/01/focusing-on-roi/