A luxury of being an independent blogger vs. a media person - freedom from deadlines

If you interact with media writers at some point you'll get the comment "I don't have time now, I have a deadline."  I don't think I've ever told someone I have a deadline.  What is a deadline?

Here is a post on what deadlines mean to journalist.

I wonder how many journalist have used this line.

When under the gun, journalists put deadline before anything else in their lives, including friends, family and yes, even coital. There’s a reason why spouses of journalists are familiar with the saying, “Not tonight dear, I’m on deadline.” 

I have gone a week or more just not writing on this blog, taking a break.  Sometimes I'l go a day or two with no posts, then have a riff of 5 in an hour.

On the other hand the main thing in writing a blog is to be regular with what you write.  Daily, weekly, etc.  

I think after 26 years of corporate life, I enjoy the freedom to set my own pace.

another Blog cloner of GreenM3, datacenterzone

I think a lot more people are reading my blog than I think.  Why?  Because I found another website that copies everything I post.  I found one 2-3 years ago.  And now here is another at  http://datacenterzone.com

Seeing good data center friends at 7×24 Exchange

Posted by admin on May 30, 2013 in Data Center | 0 comments

I started my data center conference attendance 5 years ago with Uptime Symposium, then DatacenterDynamics.  Eventually going to Data Center World and Gartner data center conference.  I had heard about 7x24...

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Is it green to ship USA wood pellets to EU for carbon goals?

Posted by admin on May 29, 2013 in Data Center | 0 comments

The WSJ reports on EU utility companies buying USA wood pellets for renewable energy. The push isn't in North Carolina but in Europe, where governments are trying to reduce fossil-fuel use and carbon-dioxide...

I'll go through the steps to send a cease and desist.  

The ironic part is this post will show up as a post on the cloning blog.

Realty vs. Myth, 5 manuscript versions of Gettysburg Address

Being an engineer, I enjoyed Math, Physics, Chemistry, and many other sciences.  Studying Accounting and Finance was a close third to Math and Science.  These were exact things to understand.  When I was 14 I was working part-time after school, and it didn't work out as I wasn't fitting in.  Losing the job didn't really bother me which bothered my mom more than it did me.  What I think the event did do is get me into studying psychology, philosophy, reading Jung, Freud, and Zen Buddhism.  People's perceptions shape their realty.

Here is an example of perception.  I was curios to read the exact words of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address.  We all take "four score and seven years ago…" as a truth.  But, guess what there are five different manuscripts of Abraham Lincoln's speech and each has its different place in history.

Despite the speech's prominent place in the history and popular culture of the United States, the exact wording and location of the speech are disputed. The five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address differ in a number of details and also differ from contemporary newspaper reprints of the speech.

Here are references to the 5 different manuscripts.

^a The Gettysburg Address: Nicolay copy. The Library of Congress. Retrieved on 2010-09-15.^b The Gettysburg Address: Hay copy. The Library of Congress. Retrieved on 2010-09-15.^c Everett copy (jpg). virtualgettsyburg.com. Retrieved from internet archive 2007-06-14 version on 2007-12-10.^d Bancroft copy cover letter (pic), Bancroft copy, page 1 (pic), page 2 (pic). Cornell University Library. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.^e Bliss copy, page 1 (jpg), page 2 (jpg), page 3 (jpg). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.

One of the lessons learned is the perception (of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address) is stronger than the reality (5 different manuscripts).

How many of these perception issues exist in the data center that the mass majority believe is true, but actually there is little data to support the perceived truth.

If you want to make it worse, there are some who benefit from distortion of perception as they create a reality that benefits their agenda.

Some of the smartest people know how to question common accepted truths as they ask for the data.

And sometimes those who speak less say more.

Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln was the second speaker on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Lincoln was preceded on the podium by the famed orator Edward Everett, who spoke to the crowd for two hours. Lincoln followed with his now immortal Gettysburg Address. On November 20, Everett wrote to Lincoln: “Permit me also to express my great admiration of the thoughts expressed by you, with such eloquent simplicity & appropriateness, at the consecration of the Cemetery. I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”

273 Words to a New America (2:59 min)

Curator: Dr. John R. Sellers 
Week of: September 23, 2009

The Data Center World is getting smaller as it grows

One of my favorite books in high school was "Small is Beautiful."

Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays by British economist E. F. Schumacher. The phrase "Small Is Beautiful" came from a phrase by his teacher Leopold Kohr.^[1] It is often used to champion small, appropriate technologies that are believed to empower people more, in contrast with phrases such as "bigger is better".

After two weeks of being in LV and then SJ hanging around data center people having interesting discussions it struck me how small the data center world is.  Yet it is growing.

With Social Networking and the bigger getting bigger, there is a small set of people who are driving the industry forward.  Yet, there is an increasing set of people who demand data center services including IT organizations who don't understand how the small data center world works.

I think part of the problem for an newbie to data centers is to filter through the marketing and sales positioning to get the core of how the data center works.  The marketing folks are not taking an approach that "Small is Beautiful" and it is about taking small steps in technology to empower people to design, build, and operate data centers better than the past.

The small is beautiful approach is an interesting one, that needs to be studied more.

Do you know me if you read my blog?

I was at IBM's Impact conference in a smart fire side chat type of format with a bunch of media folks and an IBM VP.  We went around the room and introduced ourselves.  The IBM executive and I shook hands and then he said "I know you."  I quickly went through my memory trying to figure out where I had met the executive.  Sometimes the brain doesn't work the way it used and I couldn't figure out where we had met.  Then he said, "I read your blog." My first reaction was reading my blog doesn't mean you know me.  I've shared this story with a few and had a few laughs.  Then one of the my data center friends said well given the way you write and share your thoughts beyond the data center industry, people do feel like they know you.

After a few days in LV last week and a few days in Santa Clara catching up with friends and making new ones. I do think people know me through this blog.

This past week I hosted 30 - 40 people in a brew pub.  Went to a small dinner party that I helped reach out to some thought leaders who were in town to attend.  Last week was in LV was another pub social, dinner with IBM execs, and a 100 person party at PURE nightclub.  So kind of socially burnt out.  I have two days of rest before we host 50 people at our house for a going away party.  Only one guy going does any work in the data center industry that I know of, although there are a few real estate people who have done some data center work.  I think I'll take some pictures with my Canon 6D and post some.  I am surprised how photography does show up in some of the conversation I have on the road.

Part of what got me writing in the style to share more than data center stuff is when Olivier Sanche and I would jump into conversations and I would mention blog posts.  He cut me off and said I read everything you post, so let's just reference various ideas you have discussed and I'll tell you if I agree or disagree.  It's kind of like we were having linked cross referenced discussions with footnotes of relevant ideas.  It really tests my memory to remember what I posted on.  Sometimes I need to look at the daily e-mail posting from the site to remember what I posted on.  :-)  And, my local friends read my stuff more than my wife does and will send he posts to her with their comments.  In fact, I think the readers of my blog have a better idea of where I am going next than my wife does.  Next week is North Carolina,  then 7x24 Boca, then GigaOm Structure in SF.

Thanks for visiting this blog.  And, I guess people do know me through what I post.

-Dave Ohara