Hectic Eclectic

Seric have a little announcement to make...

...we have achieved...

        

STILL NOT GOT IT?????

Just an Eye, Bee Movie, M from James Bond, Air Jordon Premier, The less than Hindi classic "Partner", and finally two guys with three chords between them... Status (The) Quo. 


It is quite a big deal really. There aren't that many; certainly not in the Scottish Community, where the only other one is Versko.  So what does it mean?  It means we have a load of technical and certifications and have consistently delivered a high level of business in Scotland and across the UK with, and often on behalf of IBM.

Simply put our sales staff and technicans know what they are doing - honest.

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I will admit that the PREMIER clue was the toughest but I am a bit of a basketball anorak and they are pretty snazzy sneaks (in a retro stylee).  Talking of basketball - it may have been a while but as it was before I started this blog it is probably worth a mention to say "HOW BOUT THOSE HEELS!"

The Wolfram is at the Door - and he is stimulating all my senses

Having had a look at Wolfram-Alpha it seems like Stephen and friends have been busy little bunnies.  I've been a fan since the first time I got my mitts on a copy of Mathematica way back when and it just did EVERYTHING better.  Of course other stuff has come along to fill little niches and do some stuff really well but it is still the biggest the best and has the most delicious syntax.  If a syntax can be beautiful the Wolfster def made the best stab at it. Look at the wonderful things you can do with it.  Easter eggs on Mathematica - I bet they taste even better than they look.  Not bad for an Old Etonian.

But what the Real Michael J and friends have been up to recently looks like a real step forward in information collation for the nation, and I do mean the nation; though I salute more than Stephen's team's indefatigability their most recent progeny glut are certainly norteamericanos and sans passport at that.  But the turtle progresses only by sticking its neck out and this lot have clearly been wearing their turtlenecks.

Music on a search engine - these guys have been thinking afresh and thinking it through.  I've never read it but I can't imagine there are not at least a few synesthetes in the development team to come up with this stuff.   What would Duke Ellington and Miles Davis have made of this stuff I suspect they would have loved it.  I'm guessing Richard David James is already a keen follower...

So many clever boys and girls make explicit connections between what for many, are very different spheres of knowledge.  The sysnethete to me seems both the extreme example of, and the niche polymath - and I note that last bit smells of oxymoron.  I don't want to colour anyone's views but could this be the first steps towards a more general correlation of pools of knowledge in the population.  I often say to people that clever people do a few things in the vedic tradition of little and often,

1. Admit they don't know
2. Make complicated things simple
3. Regularly cross fertilise
4. Learn new stuff
5. Explain things to others

Well the boys at Wolfram have a wonderful alpha out there now and as it passes my 5-point test I'm all for it.  Centred on America, sure; Does loads of things worse than Google, definitely; Loads of bugs, you've got me!  Like I said earlier - you have to stick your neck out, so why not check it out and take it somewhere new?

PSYBT on linkedin.com

I set up a group on Linked in for folks with some connection or another to PSYBT.  Now in its 20th Anniversary year PSYBT is great charity and the one I got started up in business with.  A combination of great aftercare support and a loan was just great.  The little group (PSYBT Alumni & Friends of PSYBT) I set up on linkedin.com, and it has just reached 64 members.  Though it has been a little time consuming trying to get the group moving along I still love it at 64...  Amazing what can be achieved with numbers and a common goal.  Business already being passed to keep these young businesses going.

I set up the group in order to encourage more interaction between PSYBT businesses and to tap into the seam of goodwill that exists for the charity and its clients.

In any case please encourage any folks with a connection to PSYBT to join and post with any news of their businesses. A new website, new win, new product or service... I'm sure the wider group would be glad to hear about it and may even have some good feedback.

Although still small the group has grown quite a bit recently and I'm sure as it continues to grow it will be a pretty useful resource for clients and supporters alike.

Chow for niao

Ryanair, raising the bar on contempt for clients

New charges as Ryanair scraps check-in desks

Ryanair is set to become the first airline to abolish traditional check-in desks and will now charge passengers £5 to print off boarding passes at home instead.  At present, travelers carrying only hand luggage can check-in online and create their own boarding pass at not extra cost.  Those who prefer to follow more traditional route to the check in desk can still do so at a charge of £10.  Under the new rules, which will apply to all new flights booked from May 20, there will be no option to check in at the airport.  Those who do not have their home printed boarding pass will be charged £40 to get on their no frills flight.  From May 20, instead of passengers handing any hold baggage to a check in assistant, they will instead queue at a “bag drop” area where their cases will be tagged by a member of staff. 

Can they get any worse?  When old Vera loses her boarding card - or your printer jams... 40 quid please!

Shocking.

What do you mean I have to sit another exam?

Due to an administrative oversight at Seric Towers it seems yours truly is one exam short of a diet.  No ad libs please. Seems the BP Police at IBM Mansions have discovered this technicality and been diligent enough to remove any theoretical loophole I might have been hypothecating about.  Isn't life unfair?  I know dear reader, I know.

So what excitement lies ahead for lil ole me?  IBM Certified Specialist - IBM Storage Sales, Version 9.  It is a bit raunchier than v7 and has a better ending than v8 - so it can't be all bad.  On lamenting my prediction to SWMBO she informed me that she was as surprised as I that I didn't know everything already.  I'm sure if SWMBO just keeps searching her cheek her tongue will turn up.

Morningness and Eveningness - yes these are real words

My wife is writing a paper on sleep timings in older adults and it has sparked a bit of debate at Fortress Macdonald.  It seems that sleep like many other things in the world of Psychology is divided by the old nature vs nurture chesnut, or in this case biological vs sociological.
Maybe it is the Physics in the background or reading one too many books on Zen, but I have long held the belief that if there were two directly opposing schools of thought on any given topic, each with good research and plenty of erudite proponents then the only logical conclusion one could draw is that they are both correct.  Like Dick Vitale's Epiphany in Wave Theory 101 - It's Duality BAYBEE!!!
It seems this argument of mine has become a little tiring on the ears at our place but I'm going to see what I can dig up to convince the boss.  I suspect I'll be getting the boss into a bit of Fuzzy Thinking, and try to convince her to see beyond the dodgy tie-dye new-age cover...

Small business IT support - made easy

You spoke and we listened.  So here at Seric we've re-packaged our small business support and believe we have a very competitive price for an excellent service.  Simple pricing - no double talk - support for blackberries - backup and the rest.  Here is our all inclusive pricing.

PC Remote Support    - £7.50/mth
Blackberry Support    - £2.50/mth
Server/Network Monitoring    - £29/mth
Server Remote Support + Server/Network Monitoring  - £99/mth
   (Discounts available for large volumes)

Give us a call on (0141) 561-1161 and find out how we can help you save some time and some money...  and speak to some of happy clients.

Release Candidate? - Lucky Number? - Really?

Found out as of yesterday we can get our grubby paws on Windows 7 RC.  Haven't had a look yet beyond a few screen grabs but so far no one beating down the door at Seric Towers to get a look.  That said I know plenty opted out of vista and have 'talked' about this as an option...

Of course you can get your mits on it here... or give us a call if you are pondering.  Happy to help...

So what do you think - Worth a look? Worth waiting for? Madness incarnate? 

Netapp's new system manager looks pretty good

Sure it's release 1.0 and these things are never without their challenges... but it does look pretty good indeed. Steve Klinkner gives a good overview in his Simple Steve blog  There are all sorts of interesting bits and bobs that plug together roughly like this...

With more than 110 software options now to go on NetApp equipment seems there are more and more reasons to be looking at this stuff.  Any proper technical questions - ask our Billy.  As he keeps telling me I'm just in Sales now.  The very thought!

Working together - Rational Team Concert

Sat in on a detailed customer demo for Rational Team Concert recently and very pleased to see some great strides forward on the security side since the first release but with all the same useability features still intact well worth a look if your team are well - out of synch and disjointed...  See RTC here.

Based on the Jazz.net platform - on an open commercial model - you get all the benefits of software developedwith Business SLA's and none of the constraints of a groupthink on the wishlist and quick fix side.

Jazz.net?  "Nice"