Day out at Tidbinbilla

Spent a day out with Libby and Catie

Bought a season pass to the Nature Reserve because I think we will be going there quite a lot

		Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Really like going out to the tracking station too

Tidbinbilla Tracking Station VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

First ACS Event in almost 18 Months

Tonight I went to my first ACS event in a LONG time. For me it has been all about scheduling and distance the meeting time change a while back and I’d need to leave work at 16:00 to get there and this is a problem for me.

Tonight was Education Across the Nation - The impact of Social Media on Information Security Governance folk I spoke to afterward gave mixed ratings but I really wanted to explore briefly two things…

1. In a room full of people averaging 2 Social Media Accounts it is really hard to target a presentation that will resonate with everybody and on that basis I think it was a good session and well worth my effort.
2. We were asked how many “Social Media” accounts we have, far and away I seemed to have the most so here is my list of semi active accounts there may be more …

• Face Book
• Face Book Page Synergistic
• Face Book Page Mackie is a geek
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• Instagram
• Foursquare I don’t use this too much since I was in Thames (NZ) and checked in and look up to discover I was checking in at 4Square (like IGA) on FourSquare. Yep sad hey
• DavidLMackie.wordpress.com Me my family and randomness
• Mackie.is-a-geek.net This Tech Focused (ish) Blog
• Fat2Fit.mackie.is-a-geek.net I am going to weigh what other people do and this is embarrassment motivation
• Miso
• Get Glue
• Sound Cloud I have this account so I can follow and comment on the fabulous music of @PiaWaugh which is awesome and so is she give her stuff a listen and follow her on twitter.
• I’m pretty sure I have missed stuff

Oh and happy to connect on most of these things if you like

First ACS Event in almost 18 Months

Tonight I went to my first ACS event in a LONG time. For me it has been all about scheduling and distance the meeting time change a while back and I’d need to leave work at 16:00 to get there and this is a problem for me.

Tonight was Education Across the Nation - The impact of Social Media on Information Security Governance folk I spoke to afterward gave mixed ratings but I really wanted to explore briefly two things…

1. In a room full of people averaging 2 Social Media Accounts it is really hard to target a presentation that will resonate with everybody and on that basis I think it was a good session and well worth my effort.
2. We were asked how many “Social Media” accounts we have, far and away I seemed to have the most so here is my list of semi active accounts there may be more …

• Face Book
• Face Book Page Synergistic
• Face Book Page Mackie is a geek
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• Instagram
• Foursquare I don’t use this too much since I was in Thames (NZ) and checked in and look up to discover I was checking in at 4Square (like IGA) on FourSquare. Yep sad hey
• DavidLMackie.wordpress.com Me my family and randomness
• Mackie.is-a-geek.net This Tech Focused (ish) Blog
• Fat2Fit.mackie.is-a-geek.net I am going to weigh what other people do and this is embarrassment motivation
• Miso
• Get Glue
• Sound Cloud I have this account so I can follow and comment on the fabulous music of @PiaWaugh which is awesome and so is she give her stuff a listen and follow her on twitter.
• I’m pretty sure I have missed stuff

Oh and happy to connect on most of these things if you like

What can I do to reduce Service Desk Calls by …

I have been thinking about iDM tool deployment and have started to think about a benefit that could be unrealised while we think about synching connected systems.

Perhaps we could reduce Service Desk calls for Password Synch and Resets and maybe save the licencing costs of the iDM solution on the front end.

Gartner says

The two most frequent call types are how-to requests (how to access or operate IT resources) and password reset (establishing or regaining the privilege to access IT resources). Because password problems make up 20 percent to 30 percent of all IT service desk volume, with most of those issues resolvable by password reset tools, automating this function can save organizations the costs of supporting this type of request.

I want to talk about Password Self Service, Password Synchronisation and Enterprise Single Sign On.

I’ll tackle these topics before going on to more complicated iDM topics so over the next few weeks we will learn about Passwords yay!!

Afternoon visit to Michelago

Michelago Railway Station VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Barton Galleries April 2012

		Barton Galleries and Questacon April 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Let’s not Demonise Complexity

When I first saw this image I smiled a little and thought wow they are trying to say complexity is BAD.

To many organisations complexity is bad mostly because they want to have a lower skilled workforce… Well it seems that way at least.

I was talking with someone the other day who was lamenting that “FIM was ridiculously hard, kind of like SCCM”.

I don’t want to rant about IT Generalists expecting to be able to just pick up the DVD and go with many Microsoft Technologies but will say I’m coming up on my third attempt at passing the FIM 2010 Technology Specialist Exam and it is NOT an easy product BUT I didn’t expect it would be …

I want to spend some time talking about complex products that make the Business of IT and the Business of Business easier or Complexity can be your friend.

So I’m keen to relearn my FIM 2010 mojo by building a solution but also because I’m an Infrastructure guy not an application developer, I’m keen to build it code free except for some PowerShell.

Sydney Training Trip

I spent a few days in Sydney on a course.

Thinking back of the things I love about Wynyard Station an the City

On the drive home I HAD to stop an take some photos of Rainbows on Windmills

		Sydney Trip Feb 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I tried two Twitter accounts and am now following one

A little while ago I felt a bit concerned about the folk who follow me on twitter might be two separate but equally important groups. The Tech Professionals who I know via the Microsoft IT Pro part of my life and the others who I know because I love … Television, T-Shirts, Geeks, People and Random stuff which includes other tech stuff too.

I created a second Twitter account and tried to take the IT Pro Geeks there and lots stayed with @DavidLMackie a few left but lots didn’t and more even began following so ….

I don’t want to tweet on two accounts but @Mackieisageek will still get updates from http://mackie.is-a-geek.net/ for those who can’t work RSS :) Oh and occasionally I might cross post to both

Sorry if this turns out to be less awesome for you.

A 10 Year old said this … I need to teach it to my kids

"If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind, If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind." - Arfa Karim Randhawa

The idea not the quote - She died this month aged 16 really inspirational young woman

King O’Malley Exhibit with Catie

Catie and I went to the Canberra Museum and while there were a lot of interesting exhibits about the contribution of King O’Malley to the foundation of Canberra

The Survey equipment really caught my attention

King O'Malley VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Thoughts for a New Year

I am not sure that a date in a calendar is a reason for new promises to break to ourselves or endeavouring to do better in all aspects of our lives but it is a line we jump over with glee.

Canberra City New Years Eve Fireworks 2011

Tonight my family went to Canberra City for Dinner and the early fireworks display on the way home we got slushies from 7 Eleven.

Catie danced while we watched and listened to the Music – Ian Moss Played a set before we left.

So in all we had a nice time

This year has been challenging and instructive, I have “met” lots of new people and some are really quite wonderful, if you don’t know who you are then that is one thing I need to do better next year. Thanks for the friendship and also allowing us to share in your lives I am personally better for knowing every one of you.

Career Opportunities the one that never knocked

They offered me the office offered me the shop, they said I'd better take anything they got ....

I was away for the weekend in Brisbane last weekend and it was the awesome ;) I learned about Technical things and even presented for the first time in more than 3 years. I really enjoyed that and will blog about it shortly but this is about another lesson I learned and something that make me a bit sad about choices we foist upon girls and how it becomes a singular turning point for ruined lives.
 
After the event we all went out for drinks and food. Afterward a few of the boys kicked on for a BIG night out, as often happens when away we headed out on a trip to the Casino and then more bars. Toward the end of the night we found a pub on the corner and said hello to the obligatory Islander Bouncer and headed in side. The things we noticed as we entered may have been different for each of us, but here is what I noticed:

• Not Very well lit
• Not very full compared to other places we had been
• Australia vs Wales on the Big screen
• Drinks well priced compared to other places
• AND Boobies of course the Boobies

Yep we were in a Titty Bar

Having gone to the World cup with Libby and the Kids how could I walk out on a Rugby game? AND I had not seen any sport in any of the other places :)

I’m a tiny bit unsure on the details of how we come to the discussion that has stuck with me but be assured it was probably because the girls sit and chat with punters because there are maybe four advantages:

• Time to just sit
• Boys buy drinks at a greater rate if the waitress is right there
• Boys buy drinks for the Waitresses <- Double Edged Sword more about that soon
• They “sell” Table Dances … The Dancer puts on clothes, moves seductively on the table and takes off the Bra and Lingerie shorts leaving the “Thong” style panties she began with. I understand the point is titillation that comes from the expectation of what is revealed next but isn’t this the girl you have just been chatting with? Do some men really have 3 minute memories?

Anyway we had a Waitress Sit with us and oddly we had questions (man we are geeks) and they were about:

• What kind of job is it?
• Don’t you feel demeaned?
• Is this really just a strip joint?
• How long have you been doing this?

Oddly well I thought it was, and it is maybe because we are Fathers of Daughters there was a lot of eye contact going on. Okay TOTAL GEEKS

So we drank some more and watched the rugby and chatted with let’s call her Tiffany (she gave a name which would have been a fake name but I forgot it)

She told a story of how she has had some problems at work mostly related to drinking partly because the punters expect it and partly because it is a job worth forgetting.

This is sad all by itself but I am more saddened by these things she told us:

• She has been taking her clothes off for work for more than 6 years
• She comes from elsewhere in Australia but that area has no opportunities either
• With a work history you would not put on a resume she is pretty stuck
• She deeply wants a job where people don’t touch you, the nudity was secondary and less a concern
• Jobs should not involve having to wear a disguise to get home un-stalked
• Drinking at work to make your work bearable causes additional problems that could be job ending. (I would think this is an OH&S issue between her and work safe)

The reason I am so touched and saddened this much later is …

• This Girl was articulate
• She spoke about the establishment in a positive manner and expressed the marketing benefits – It is restaurant and public bar with staff who happen to be undressed. They are not a strip club (yet)
• She was open and respectful (I could not say the same for many of her peers)
• She legitimately seemed to want a change but didn’t know how to get out
• After 6 Years I’m not sure how anyone will give her a chance
• I thought she had a lot going for her and from the small sample of our conversation she would not be a detriment to an organisation in a reception type role, and seemed smart enough to grow to a much better position.

My question to you is how can a person get out from under circumstances like these?

OR

Should I just harden up?  I went there and made a market for this type of thing! She bought her ticket and I only feel bad because i am projecting her circumstance on my children as a possible future which I am able to prevent and so could her parents if they were better parents.

I can’t help to feel for girls in these circumstances and my world view was changed by talking and not ogling. How do we as a community change this for people who are seeking to do more mainstream things after making such sad choices

“REALLY I just want a job where people don’t touch me” WTF is this too much to ask and I have no answers just a desire for change in the world.

Let me know if this is a problem being solved and by whom.

Sad really just unhappy about this.

Neural Connectivity, Internet Friends and Rage (ABC1)

I turned on the TV this morning and noticed Rage was being Guest Programmed by @theJezabels and remembered an Internet friend @BettyisPretty had mentioned she wanted to see them at the ANU a little bit back but didn’t get there. Anyway gave it a watch and thought might have a bit of a look at The Jezabels later. Hope YouTube will be my friend for an initial look.

The First song I saw was Life on Mars by David Bowie this triggered a memory of another version I had seen recently and I think it is AWESOME and one of the YouTubers commented it makes me want to smoke and take up guitar. Well I always want to smoke but have not done so in 12 and a half years :)

I think while I jump about with one thought leads to another and another I guess if I didn’t follow back @BettyisPretty when she followed me I would have missed out on this mornings finds and I suspect much much more long term Thanks Danika

So I’ll let you compare even though the Seu Jorge version is in Portuguese I still think it is wonderful …

 

This guy is so cool

and this one not so bad either

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bet you thought I would not link a jezabels song give this a listen