Victor Rozek
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As I See It: The Programmer as Artist
May 27, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreIt has been variously described as art, science, a teachable skill, a creative process, and an exercise in logic. And because it can boast of having all those properties, the nature of programming remains as elusive as good government. The challenge in pinning down the essence of programming is that no single descriptor is exact or sufficient. Almost anything you can say about it elicits a “yes, but. . .” reaction.
Yes, programming has artistic elements, but how artistic is an accounting program? Yes, IT began as Computer Science, and during the formative years programmers wore lab coats and coded
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As I See It: Soothing the Savage Programmer
May 12, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreDr. Masaru Emoto has a gentle, curious face and a facile mind with which he probes the bumpy intersection of science and metaphysics. Using a dark-field microscope with photographic capabilities, he researches the effects of external factors on the molecular structure of water. Not just such obvious influences as pollution, but much more esoteric factors not commonly thought to possess substance-altering properties, such as thoughts, words, and music.
The notion that sound or thought could alter the molecular shape of water seems ludicrous, but Emoto’s extraordinary photos suggest otherwise. Water labeled with positive words such as “love,” “gratitude,” and “appreciation,”
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As I See It: That Competitive Bug
April 28, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreIt has become an article of faith that competitiveness is inherently good, historically inevitable, and the fountainhead of economic dominance. It’s rare that business-related nouns appear in print without their default companion adjective “competitive.” The job market, global markets, wages, and prices all share the same pugnacious descriptor. As any first-year business student will attest: in order to be successful, companies must pursue competitive advantage by developing competitive solutions and executing competitive strategies.
It’s a word that describes everything and explains nothing.
With the emergence of India and China, and the maturation of the European Union, old economic relationships no
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As I See It: Goldilocks and the Zen of IT
April 14, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreAll right kids, grab your blankies and pillows, get comfy, and I’ll tell you the story of Goldilocks, the IT Zen masters, and the three migration options. Once upon a time, there was a CEO everyone called Goldilocks because she had curly blond hair and the people in her company suffered from a paucity of imagination. Goldilocks had a problem. Her enterprise system was toooo old, her employees were toooo inefficient; and, if things didn’t change soon, her annual bonus was going to be toooo small.
Goldi had two migration choices and both were real bears. There was the “big
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As I See It: Misera Plebs Contribuens
March 31, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreGreetings, misera plebs contribuens! It’s what the Hungarian people started calling themselves after King Andreas II exempted the nobility from taxation–an immunity which, like one, long, baronial happy meal, lasted from the 13th to the 19th century. It means “miserable tax-paying people,” and if you’ve already prepared this year’s return, you probably feel like one.
Sucker.
One third and perhaps as many as one half of eligible tax filers either cheat on their returns or don’t file a return at all. And their numbers, like springtime pollen counts, are exploding. In 1985, there were 3.4 million nonfilers. Just two
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As I See It: Bringing the Funny
March 17, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreOne of the early traumas that children suffer is often at the hands of well-meaning parents who hire clowns to entertain at birthday parties. The grotesquely painted face, the loud unfamiliar costume, the over-sized feet, and the parental pressure to have fun because this is costing Daddy a couple-hundred bucks all combine to confuse and frighten the child. More than one party has been disrupted when the birthday celebrant runs off crying in search of his or her mother.
Corporate parents–those practitioners of tough love known collectively as management–are bringing this same notion of traumatic fun to the workplace. Forget
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As I See It: Change in Plan
February 25, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreAt some point, we all come face to face with the specter of limitation as time begins to pare down our options, awakening a dormant sense of urgency. It is, in part, a whimsical reminder that we’ll never become the major leaguer, or the astronaut, or the ballerina we once wanted to be. More bluntly, it is the humbling confirmation that we are not yet independently wealthy, are unlikely to win national acclaim, or have our book plugged by Oprah. It is the time when idealists discover that not only have they failed to save the world, they haven’t even
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As I See It: Why IT Will Save the Economy
February 11, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreExplanation #1: Fifteen years ago, two college kids were jogging along the beach and, as they were passing a large clump of flotsam wrapped in ropes of kelp, they noticed something glinting in the sunlight. They stopped, looked, and one of them reached into the slimy mass and pulled out what appeared to be an ancient lamp. As is the custom with ancient lamps, the young man began to rub it vigorously. No sense in taking a chance; they’d feel pretty stupid if they passed up their opportunity to awaken the Genie.
Sure enough, there was a sizeable puff of
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As I See It: Avatar Nation
January 28, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreLet’s say that you want to attend COMMON. But this year, COMMON is being held in Nashville, or Dallas, or Boston, or Seattle, or Chicago, or San Diego, or anywhere except where you are. First, you’d have to budget for the trip a year ahead, or there would be no money for travel. Next, you’d have to grovel for permission from management. Then you’d have to book a flight, make your hotel reservations, and rent a car. On your travel day, you would probably get up at some ungodly hour to get to the airport early, leave your car in
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As I See It: Weighty Matters
January 14, 2008 Victor Rozek
… Read moreThe package arrived the day before Christmas. It came all the way from the East coast courtesy of my in-laws. As soon as my wife saw it, she got a sly look on her face and urged me to open it because, she said, it was “time sensitive.” But my father-in-law is to packaging what Madonna is to restraint, so opening one of his packages requires a great deal of patience and resolve. Having a modest cache of explosives wouldn’t hurt either. So I gathered a chisel, a hammer, a sharp knife, and a sturdy pair of pruning shears and