There are very few (less than four) world events that have happened in my lifetime that I can say that I knew exactly where I was when they happened.  Of course, I will forever remember the day when the towers came down.  But the most recent one - the final launch of the shuttle program - will be the saddest one I that I will remember.

Growing up as a good little geek, I only had eyes for the stars.  There are pictures of me in grade 2, posing with a home made alien for a science project.  All of my bedrooms growing up (4 of them, each in a different house) had glow in the dark stars on the roof.  I would truck my telescope out and ask the neighbours to turn their lights off so that I could spend some time gazing through the lens.  At summer camp, I would often be more interested in gazing up to the night sky than at the girl sitting next to me.  I have worked my way through most of the hard sci-fi (Asimov, Heinlien, Scott-Card, Niven, etc) and still read Astounding and Asimov before bed.  I loved the idea of science camp at the Calgary Science Center, and would take home packets of space ice cream to eat while watching Star Trek.

In a word, I was, and still am, obsessed.

I don't remember when or how I was introduced to the notion of space exploration, but I was absolutely enamoured with the concept that would forever be burned into my brain as "Space, the Final Frontier."  Yeah, 'Sea Quest, DSV' was an attempt to show how cool Earth's oceans could be, but it did not even begin to hold a candle to all of the good (Space: Above and Beyond), bad (original BSG), and awful (Star Trek: Voyager) space based sci-fi that was out there.

As a kid, I built model rockets with the dream of being able to go up in one of those rockets one day (not through a "honey I shrunk the kids" type of arrangement, either).  I slowly, and hesitently, abandoned that idea after learning of NASA's requirements to be a space pilot.  I would not enter the US Military and have jet fighter experience; I would continue to wear glasses; I had no desire to study Math or Physics (though in hind sight, I should have taken Engineering at uni).  And so, I resigned myself to being a cheerleader.

The American Space Program was, what I perceived, the greatest thing ever.  It was Manifest Destiny IN SPACE!  Until it wasn't.  Increasing regulatory requirements, increasing costs, and decrease public interest basically killed it.  Meanwhile, the Russians and Chinese were all like "FIRE ZE MISSILES", wherein 'ze missiles' was their exhuberance for continuing the space dream.  And then along came Obama and the left's space policy that has effectively shut down NASA.  While there may be some praise for this move, Buzz Aldrin seems to be the only one who has a veiled criticism appear as praise for this move - commercial spaceflight is the answer to the American space dream.

On this day, July 8, 2011, I will sit back and think of Homer Hickam and the Rocket Boys, the folks over at Virgin: Galactic, and everyone who was involved in the Ansari X-Prize and think of them as the next steps in space exploration.  But until there are signs of proper exploration, I will remain quietly resigned and think of the 10,000 NASA employees who have been laid off or are being forced to retire when Atlantis returns.

Lisa and I are planning a midsummer's trip - and serindipitously, we found Air Canada's Thank You promo code to book our flights.  This promo code gave us 15% off of our fares, which seemed like a great deal.

Because I did not have Lisa's aeroplan card at hand, and she did not have it handy, I suggested that we book separately. 

After booking my fare ($135 + tax on the way, $152 + tax on the return), I provided the details to Lisa.  Her fare was coming back higher ($152 + tax on the way, $152 + tax on the return).  Frustrated, we booked, and I promised to call Air Canada to deal with it.

On Monday, I called Air Canada's 1-800 number for their call centre.  After waiting for 50 minutes on hold, I abandoned the call.
On Tuesday, I called the same call centre.  After waiting for 45 minutes on hold, I abandoned the call.
On Wendesday, I didn't bother.

Air Canada announced on Thursday a Promo Code for 30% off flights in Western Canada.  Oh Frabjous day!  I checked the fares, and lo and behold, for two passengers, the fares would have been the same on the way out as on the way back.  Knowing that they weren't lacking seats on this flights, I began my call centre hold process.

After waiting for only 20 minutes on hold, someone answered my call.  I proceeded to inquire about a fare reduction or a partial re-imbursal. 
AC Rep: "You should have known that if you called within 24 hours, you could have cancelled."
Me: "No, no I wouldn't.  It does not say that anywhere in the confirmation e-mail you had sent."
AC Rep: "Well, you should have known.  It's on our website under Manage My Bookings."
Me: "So, summarizing for the people who are playing along at home, you won't lower the rate that Lisa paid, nor will you adjust the discount we had received?"
AC Rep: "No."
Me: "Great, can I speak to one of your higher ups?"
AC Rep: "Please hold."

Insert the same shtick here, except add a lecture on how airplane flight reservation systems work.

AC Rep #2: "Her fare there was booked on Class P, and on Class P for the return.  Yours was booked under Class E for the outbound, and Class P for the return."
Me: "Ok, I understand that.  But looking at the current discount offered, it would seem that at least two more Class E's were opened for the outbound.  Could we not switch her fare then?"
AC Rep #2: "No. Maybe marketing decided to open another block of flights."

It's not the $17 + taxes that I am concerned about, it's the principle of the matter.  For all of that, and so much more, Air Canada has made my official shit list.  Yes, I have an official shit list.

For those that don't have a PS3, you probably do not care about this...  But for those of us that use our PS3 for gaming and more, this is really important you guys!

Here's my hypothesis - Sony's Playstation Network (PSN) was not brought down by "hackers", rather it has crashed one day after launch day for Portal 2.  Portal 2 is the first game that has brought Steam to the PS3, even though Valve had previously released games for the PS3.

Here's what had lead me to this hypothesis - Portal 2 was officially released on April 19th (potato searching notwithstanding).  Sony's network outage started on April 20th.  Something tells me that, like the last time there was a major PSN outage, it was the result of an untested Change.

I'm sure that the admins at Sony haven't really given much thought to what the integration with Steam Cloud has done to their Availability or Capacity plans either.  But hey, we've already paid for the hardware - why bother supporting the software?

Great article posted today on how CIOs can earn their place as a trusted advisor to the CEO.  I thoroughly enjoy when CIO.com preaches realities of ineffective IT departments.

"5. Technology is a barrier to your strategy. Unfortunately, technology and its application can create barriers that stop a company from reaching its goals. Things as simple as outdated e-mail and social media policies can hamper the way the company communicates with its customers and employees. Too much process, inflexible governance, rogue IT initiatives, maintenance of out-of-date applications and the like can take IT resources off-course. Don't wait for the CEO to tell you how IT is hampering your company's performance. Listen carefully to other business leaders. Get out in the market and see for yourself. Dig into the analytics about IT performance. Then, armed with the facts, initiate the conversation with the CEO about your ideas for removing the barriers."

However, the major hurdle is allocating enough time to listening, observing, and analyzing.  Most CIOs that I know are so hampered by operational issues and their Directors that are focused on technology.

link: http://www.cio.com/article/print/674715

Forbes interviewed some guy from some wireless tech company, and he claimed that the biggest challenges that CIOs are facing is supporting employee owned devices.

Here's the video:

Yes, there is the problem that IT departments do not have capacity to support corporate assets as well as end user devices, however this is not the CIO's number one problem.  The root cause of this is not walking lock-step with your customers.  The iPad is no different than Skype.  A fool with a tool (or struggling to support a tool) is still a fool. 

Here's some heavily simplified history:
Rolling back many moons, IT departments started introducing Business Analysts to focus on project work as the bridge between the Business and IT insofar as requirements solicitation.  These folks evolved from Systems Analysts - same thing, but more coding.  With the Service focused mentality that ITIL brings to organizations, Business Analysts are being repurposed as Business Relationship Managers.  The IIBA haven't done much to help this either, given that once a BA has their IIBA certification - they are equipped to do everything and be magical

And what now?
CIOs do not have effective Business Relationship Managers.  They do not have effective working relationships with their BRMs.  They do not nurture customer communities - and instead choose to focus solely on the upper ranks of the managerial structures. 

The number one failing of CIOs, and the number one challenge these days, is taking the view that technology must be rigidly controlled (and listening to their Directors who parrot this 1980s/1990s view too).  Usage of technology is different and disruptive.  Embrace change, meet with your BRMs daily (because you're not in business to run the network, you're in business to serve your clients), and meet with the folks who don't have supervisor or manager in their title.

NB: Security is still a huge issue, and you're current security lead is probably not very good at it.  Find a new one who knows what pwn2own and Defcon is, and has an interest in going.

While browsing The Simple Dollar today, the following quote struck me as the career crisis of Gen Y (aka why most of my type A friends are hopping companies):

"I did not feel as though my previous job was actually helping anyone improve their life. I spent most of my time exploring abstract problems and answering abstract questions. While it was intellectually stimulating, it was quite often spiritually depressing."

Thus Spoke Zarathustra (or Trent from the Simple Dollar... Same diff)

I used to be cool.

I used to be ahead of the trend for all things web.  I remember adopting XHTML strict.  I remember lamenting that certain browsers did not support pngs.  I remember my first foray into CSS, Flash splash pages, and creating CRUD interfaces to MYSQL databases.  Seems like those days are so far gone.

But now I am a follower (fast follower, but still a follower nonetheless).  I have shifted my geekness (apparantly I'm a microgeek according to "A Girl's Guide to Dating a Geek") from playing with technology to work and triathlons. 

I'm now spending time geeking out on PowerPoint design, Process Modelling, and making sure that everything snaps to a grid.  I'm also spending time geeking out on power output, GPS accuracy, calorie counting, and managing my glycemic intake.

I guess this is my geek confession.  Technology trends, I have failed you and for that I am sorry.  However, I am happy to be a fast follower (partially thanks to my Twitter friends, partially thanks to my multiple RSS feeds aggregated into Google Reader, and partially thanks to the need to still help family and friends understand new technologies).  I can't say I will be more focused on staying ahead of the curve, but I will continue to celebrate my geekiness.