Inside System Storage -- by Tony Pearson

Dear Tony,
In your last post about [New Years Resolutions for 2009], you mention spending more time with friends and family, which is typically a phrase usedby people leaving a company.

Are you announcing your retirement?

No, I don't plan to retire anytime soon. Like most companies, IBM had [changed its retirement plans]. Those lucky enough to be on the old plan could retire after 30 years of service to IBM, and get 12 percent of their last five year's salary as an annual pension the rest of their lives. If you averaged $100K per year the last five years, then you could retire on $60K per year. Many IBMers in Tucson took their pension and moved to Mexico, and lived like kings!

To qualify for the old plan, you had to be a certain age, have a minimum number of years service working for IBM, or be an executive of Italian-American descent. I missed it by a few months, so I am on the new plan instead. This involves employer contribution matches to a 401(k) plan and reflects the trend from working for a single company all your life, tochanging careers or companies every 5 to 10 years.Many of my colleagues on the old plan had announced early last year their plans to retire by the end of 2008, but then changed their minds after the economic downturn.

For both personal and professional reasons, I plan to travel less in 2009,so that will give me more time to reconnect with friends and family, especially my friends over at[Tucson Fun and Adventures], the premiere singles activities club in Southern Arizona; the [Tucson Laughter Club], recognized as one of the oldest laughter clubs in the United States; and the Tucson Film Society at the[Loft Cinema].

Dear Tony,
Why not make a New Years Resolution for an "exercise regime"?

I made that lifestyle change back in 2003, joining [Performance at McMahon's] fitnesstraining facility, and have been lifting weights there, several times per week, ever since.

This is my personal trainer Christine. Our gym had their annual Elite Performer athletic contest running August to November last year, and I came in fifth place. If you are looking fora personal trainer in the Tucson area to jump-start your own fitness goals, call Christine at 907-4510.

Normally, I considerNew Years Resolutions for starting new things, changing bad behaviors, or revisiting things I have long forgotten, not really intended for continuing to do the same as the year before. However, if it makes you happy, I resolve to continue my exercise regime of lifting weightsthree times a week, and will try to do more [cardio] as well.

Dear Tony,
What's up with your fellow blogger Chuck Hollis from EMC and his post[Timely Reading], suggesting we should read Ayn Rand's hefty novel Atlas Shrugged?

What's your take on this?

I don't talk with Chuck personally about his posts, so I can only guess that he is underthe same blackout period rules, which typically commences the day following the end of the fiscal quarter and ends after the issuance of a news release disclosing the quarterly financial results.

That said, Chuck is an avid reader, and often recommends books he likes. For example,based on his recommendation, I read Tim Harford's [The Undercover Economist] and found it an excellent choice.In the book Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand renounces religion, socialism and a variety of other ills facing societyin 1950s America. Since [93 percent] of scientists and engineers are Atheist,Agnostic or other form of non-believer, I suspect most readers of the Storage blogosphere areat least somewhat familiar with Ayn Rand's works. Personally, I prefer the works of fellow atheist authors[Douglas Adams], [Sir Isaac Asimov], [Richard Dawkins], and [George Orwell].

Chuck mentions he saw Stephen Moore's article ['Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years in the Wall Street Journal, which considers this tometo be the second most influential book, second only to the Bible. No doubt many of the bailoutplans proposed today sound similar to the government acts covered in the novel. One warningrings true for me:

When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.

However, I suspect his postmight also be partly motivated by Josh Bernoff's report [Time To Rethink Your Corporate Blogging Ideas] from Forrester Research. I've read the full report, andit has some interesting results.Only 16 percent of those surveyed who use company blogssay they trust them. The situation improves slightly if you look at people who are activein the blogosphere.Among those who read blogs regularly, only 24 percent trust company blogs. And only 39 percent of bloggers, who actually write their own blogs, trust company blogs. This ranks lower than every other form of content Forrester asked about, includingbroadcast and print media, direct mail, and email from companies.

This would mean company blogs are justslightly more trustworthy than self-proclaimed UFO alien abductees, tabloidsat the grocery store checkout lane, and perhaps politicians like Vice President Dick Cheneyor former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.Josh insists that this report is not meant as a plea for existing corporate bloggers to give up blogging, but rather to be more thoughtful on how and why they blog.

Perhaps Chuck is suggesting that bloggers are like the creative types in Atlas Shrugged who felt under-appreciated, and that perhaps all IT Storage bloggers should go on strike?

Well, I'm not retiring, not quitting my exercise routine, and not planning to stop blogging.Last year, thanks to you my dear readers, I was ranked the third most influential blog on IBMDeveloperworks. Congratulations to my fellow IBM bloggers [Bobby Wolf] and ["Turbo" Todd Watson], who ranked first and second!

technorati tags: New Years Resolutions, IBM, retirement, TFA, TLC, Loft Cinema, exercise, Performance, personal trainer, bad behavior, EMC, Chuck Hollis, Tim Harford, Undercover Economist, Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Douglas Adams, Sir Isaac Asimov, Richard Dawkins, George Orwell, Stephen Moore, WSJ, Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research, UFO

First, let's see how well I did against last year's[Resolutions for 2008]:

Improve my writing skills

For this, I purchased the[Associated Press (AP) Stylebook] which some consider to be the Journalist's Bible for how to spell, write and phrase things correctly.I also followed various blogs about writing, including John E. McIntyre's[You Don't Say], Dan Santow's[Word Wise, and the Quotation's Page[Quotes of the Day].

Improve my HTML and Web design skills

I helped out several local organizations with their Web sites, and learned some of the latest HTML features, Common Style Sheets (CSS), Javascript, and Active Service Pages (ASP).

Contribute to the OLPC Foundation

Last year, I resolved to contribute my time and effort to the One Laptop Per Child[OLPC] project led by Nicholas Negroponte. It didn't takelong for them to contact me, and I had wonderful experiences helping the folks in Nepal andUruguay.Despite building and delivering half a million laptops to deserving kids, the OLPC team has been impacted by the recent economic meltdown. From their [announcement], theOLPC team is making some shifts in their direction and priorities. Here's an excerpt:

"This restructuring is also the result of an exciting new direction for OLPC. Our technology initiatives will focus on:

• Development of Generation 2.0
• A no-cost connectivity program
• A million digital books
• Passing on the development of the Sugar Operating System to the community.

With regard to deployments:

• Latin America will be spun off into a separate support unit
• Sub-Saharan Africa will become a major learning hub
• The Middle East, Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan will become a major focus"

It's not clear how involved I will be with OLPC in 2009, and I will probably wait for the dust to settle on this one.

Eat Healthier and Drink more

I hired a nutritionist and improved my diet. I also drank more (that was an easy one to keep!). Unfortunately, there is still room for improvement on this one.

Attend more movies and film-making events

I've renewed my membership with the Tucson Film Society, and attended several of their eventsin 2008, including a meeting Will Conroy, screenwriter for the Action/Suspense thriller[Transsiberian] starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley.

Get better Organized

Well I carried my [Hipster PDA] in my back pocket most of 2008, but it just did not catch on. I did get somewhat better organized, with three-ring binders and a scanner that converts paper documents into searchable PDF files.

While some might find the concept of New Year's resolutions silly or pointless, I find themuseful. Here's some interesting research on Wikipedia:

"Recent research shows that while 52 percent of participants in a resolution study were confident of success with their goals, only 12 percent actually achieved their goals. Men achieved their goal 22 percent more often when they engaged in goal setting, a system where small measurable goals are used (lose a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10 percent more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends."

Here are mine for 2009:

Spend More Time with Friends and Family

According to this [article by Albrecht Powell], reconnecting with friends and family is the number one on the Top 10 list.I think the economic meltdown served as a great wake-up call for people to focus what is mostimportant in your life and adjust your priorities accordingly.

Enjoy Life More

Back in 2007, I vowed to laugh more. While the current economic crisis might not seem like an appropriate time for this one, I think there is hope, a new US President, and some much-needed enthusiasm for change.

Learn Something New

At a dinner with clients, one of the IBMers had brought his 20-something daughter and hersimilarly-aged friend. Their college was closed for the week after a student shooting, andhe felt it best to give them a change of scenery. They couldn't wait until they were "done withschool" so they could get on with their lives. I had to break the bad news to them that intoday's world, they should expect life-long learning. Gone are the days where you can learna specific skill or trade, and do that the rest of your life. Hopefully I didn't frightenboth into giving up a career in favor of marriage with such advice!

With the world getting smaller, flatter, and yes "smarter" also, I resolve to learn somethingnew. I don't necessarily know what that is yet, but I will keep it in the back of my mind.

Make Tucson a better place, and enrich the lives of its residents

I've actually gotten complaints that I was helping people in other countries, through OLPC and [Kiva],and that I should domore for people right here in Tucson. That's fair. This year I resolve to investigatethat further.

Get Better Organized

Last year was a good start, but I can certainly do better in 2009, both at home and at the office.Perhaps I need to dust off my old copy of ["Getting Things Done"] by David Allen and read it again!

Hopefully, this list might inspire you to come up with your own resolutions. Not surprisingly, writing them in a public forum helped me keep most of them, and stick to my resolutions throughout the year. Here are [other hints to help you], and some[expert advice on maintaining resolutions].

technorati tags: IBM, New Year's Resolutions, AP, Stylebook, HTML, CSS, ASP, OLPC, Transsiberian, Will Conroy, Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley, PDA, PDF, Kiva, GTD, David Allen

I hope everyone had some time these past few weeks of the Winter Solstice to enjoy some time off with friends and family. I had a great trip to New York City, got to visit my brother and his friends, went to see my friends in Michigan to celebrate New Years Eve, and see the world premiere of [LexiBaby], an independent film from fellow filmmaker Jonathan Petro.

Talking to people in New York, Michigan and Arizona gave me some perspective on what 2008 was like for them, and what they anticipate for the new 2009 year. Borrowing the meme from last month's Freakonomics contest[Got Six Words to Inspire America] and the book[Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure], I can summarize the responses I heard into three groups:

• Sadly, life is full of disappointment
• In holding pattern, checking fuel level
• Am I dreaming? Someone pinch me!

The latter of course from fellow IBMers, corporate executives receiving bailout money, attorneys that specialize in foreclosures, and the lucky few who will be in Washington DC for the US Presidential Inauguration.In addition to all the bailout money from banks, insurance companies and automakers that will be spent on IBM equipment and services, there might be additional funds from the US Government to improve our country's information infrastructure.In a recent Forbes article titled[The Tech Solution To The Recession], Andy Greenberg writes about US president-elect Barack Obama's ideas about a stimulus to the economy. Here's an excerpt:

"IBM, for starters, believes that a massive infusion of cash should go toward cutting-edge technology. Last month, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano presented a report to Obama's transition team from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) that argues that a $30 billion investment in universal broadband, health information technology and a smarter power grid could create 950,000 jobs.

"Those disparities, and IBM's argument for focusing a stimulus plan on technology in general, come from what economists have dubbed "network multipliers." The computing giant, and ITIF, argue that technology creates more jobs than other types of infrastructure by enabling new types of businesses.

"If you build more roads, people don't buy more tires or GPS systems, but if you build better networks, you create entirely new business applications," says Rob Atkinson, president of ITIF and an author of the think tank's report. "Something like YouTube could never have existed without broadband."

"Regardless of precisely how tech stimulus money gets spent, IBM will likely sweep up a significant chunk of those taxpayer funds, given the computing giant's diverse hardware, software and services businesses. Other IT infrastructure giants like Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Oracle and SAP are also likely to vie for pieces of Obama's stimulus package aimed at technology.

"But among those tech companies, IBM has been especially active in driving home the need for national investment in tech systems. In a November speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Palmisano argued that that the U.S. needs to invest in innovation not just as a solution to our current recession but as a competitive measure in an increasingly integrated and technologically advanced world."

The concept and advantages of network multipliers are not new. For more on this, read the whitepapers[Segmentation, Network Multipliers and Spillovers: A Theory of Rural Urban Migration for a Traditional Economy by Vegard Iversen, and [Network multipliers and the optimality of indirectcommunication] by Andrea Galeotti and Sanjeev Goyal.

technorati tags: Winter Solstice, New York City, LexiBaby, Freakonomics, six-word, bailout money, Washington DC, Presidential Inauguration, IBM, information infrastructure, Barack Obama, Sam Palmisano, ITIF, network multipliers