Are aging Baby Boomers taking your IT wisdom with them in retirement? - CIO Symmetry
You have to laugh at the conference room thing.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that retiring Baby Boomers will leave a record number of jobs open when they retire — by the time 2018 rolls around, we’ll be looking at a hard-core worker shortage. According to the attendees at FusionCIO conference last month, it’s happening already in IT.
One CIO who asked not to be named said that out of his 72 employees, more than a third (24 workers) could retire at any moment. And he was stressed about the fact that they could all walk at the same time, basically putting him in a solid state of hiring mode for months. The problem isn’t limited to just his team: He laughed and said the company literally had to issue a memo forbidding the use of conference rooms for retirement parties because his office had so many people retiring that it couldn’t find space for actual meetings.
The Baby Boomers gave birth to the Information Age. We are so focused on looking toward the future at new technology that sometimes we miss the importance of history. There’s the old cherry of never really knowing what you’ve until it’s gone: If you looked around your office right now, how many of your graying IT workers do what they do so competently that you never get to see how crucial their functions are, or how their absence might lead to a catastrophic failure of the process?
At my last employer, one IT guru had retired in May 2009, but he was still working in a consulting role as of February (making five times what he did as a regular employee). During his career, everyone knew that he was amazing, but no one had ever thought about how much pivoted around the information that was trapped inside one guy’s brain. They didn’t see that many processes literally could not function without his constant vigilance. In theory, he was brought back to mentor, but the mentees were so green that half of the information he was imparting flew totally over their heads. Every time he finished up his mentoring and left, a few months later some crisis would arise or the replacement quit and he’d be called back. And each return took more incentive for him to leave retirement life and return to the cubicle gulag.
Mentoring is critical as our aging Baby Boomers prepare to make the transition to retirement. With something as blatant and predictable as seniority, there’s no excuse for being taken by surprise by a retiring Baby Boomer.
What mentoring and knowledge transfer programs are in place in your organization? What are you doing to ensure that your brilliant fiftysomething IT professional that you rely on daily isn’t going to leave you and take with her all the magic that makes your legacy systems or installed base programs function?
Friday, April 1, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
GM's Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf Review
I'm really interested in getting an electric car. I like the all-electricness of the Leaf, but what happens if you run out of juice? Perhaps an increase on the solar panels may help.
The Volt looks better, but the battery only gets you 40 miles? Can they use the Volt battery instead of the one they have in there now?
Well, we'll see how this plays out eventually.
GM's Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf Review
GM’s Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf: The Mass-Market Electric Vehicle Wars Begin
Submitted by G.E. Miller on Monday, August 2, 201015 Comments.
5EmailThe Mass-Market Electric Vehicle Wars Commence
The GM Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf will both enter showrooms at the tail end of this year. And with GM announcing the Chevy Volt price this week, you can finally find out how much each would set you back to live the “the green dream”. I’ll give a brief run-down of the price, specs, and features of each vehicle and try to decipher which might be the better buy. It turns out that they might not be as far out of your league as you may have initially thought…
Chevy Volt
■Chevy Volt Price: GM announced yesterday that the Chevy Volt purchase price would be $41,000.
■Electric Vehicle Tax Credit for the Chevy Volt: The Volt qualifies for a full electric vehicle federal tax credit of $7,500 (bringing cost down to $33,500). It might be eligible for state credits as well, depending on the state (note: Oregon is offering $1,500 off, Georgia is offering $5,000).
■Volt Lease Price: $350/month, 36 months, $2,500 down.
■Luxury Standard Features: Just about everything, including 8 airbags, 5 years of OnStar, Bluetooth capability, 30 GB hard-drive for music storage, 6 speaker Bose sound system with subwoofer, remote start, navigation with voice recognition.
■Warranty: 8 years, 100,000 miles on all electric components.
■Mileage Range: 40 miles electric (gas and emission free) + 300 miles on internal gas engine to power electric drive.
Nissan Leaf
■Nissan Leaf Price: $32,780.
■Electric Vehicle Tax Credit for the Nissan Leaf: The Leaf qualifies for a full electric vehicle tax credit of $7,500 (bringing cost down to $25,280). It might be eligible for state credits as well, depending on the state (note: California offers a $5,000 credit for the leaf, and not the Volt).
■Leaf Lease Price: $350/month, 36 months, $2,000 down.
■Luxury Standard Features: Bluetooth, navigation system.
■Warranty: 8 years, 100,000 miles on all electric components.
■Mileage Range: 100 miles electric (gas and emission free). No internal gas engine for extended range.
Chevy Volt Versus Nissan Leaf Review
I have been clamoring for electric vehicles for a long time now. The Tesla Roadster (out of most mortal humans price range at $108,000) and the unreleased Tesla Model S (a more modest $49,000 before incentives) both get 300 miles on a charge. So the technology is there to provide a 100% electric vehicle that can take you just about anywhere in a day. But neither the Volt or Leaf were able to come anywhere near that range.
So, I’m conflicted. I like the fact that the Leaf is 100% electric (no emissions). However, the range pretty much makes it a commuter car only, unless you have friends every 90 miles or so that you would allow you to charge up your car on an extended trip.
For that reason, I like the Volt’s extended range capabilities. However, the 40 miles on one charge is not jaw-dropping impressive, especially when you consider than the older lead-acid batteries on the EV1 had a range of 70-100 miles, back in 1996. For anyone with a decent commute, you wouldn’t be able to go 100% electric on the round trip unless you had somewhere at work to plug in. If GM could have just pushed it up to 60 or 80 miles on a charge, it would have provided a lot more convenience.
Both vehicles are cheaper than I was expecting them to be, when the tax credit is factored in (and much cheaper than the EV1 that GM leased in 1996, which was $400-$550/month). If you can nab an extra $5k state tax credit, you’re looking at a $20,000 cost on a new electric Leaf. Not bad for an all electric right out of the gate! The purchasing tax incentives and lower sticker price lead to the Leaf being the better deal of the two for buyers.
With GM subsidizing the Volt’s lease price to make it equal to the Leaf (excluding a + $500 on the down payment), it makes it the better leasing option because of the super standard options and extended range. Plus, it’s easier on the eyes.
If either GM or Nissan read this and would like to let me indefinitely “borrow” either vehicle, I might be able to review in more detail. Make a believer out of me. (Note to GM: I’m in the Detroit area).
Not that either is more cost efficient than buying a used Honda Civic, so don’t blast me on that. But which of the two would you buy?
The Volt looks better, but the battery only gets you 40 miles? Can they use the Volt battery instead of the one they have in there now?
Well, we'll see how this plays out eventually.
GM's Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf Review
GM’s Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf: The Mass-Market Electric Vehicle Wars Begin
Submitted by G.E. Miller on Monday, August 2, 201015 Comments.
5EmailThe Mass-Market Electric Vehicle Wars Commence
The GM Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf will both enter showrooms at the tail end of this year. And with GM announcing the Chevy Volt price this week, you can finally find out how much each would set you back to live the “the green dream”. I’ll give a brief run-down of the price, specs, and features of each vehicle and try to decipher which might be the better buy. It turns out that they might not be as far out of your league as you may have initially thought…
Chevy Volt
■Chevy Volt Price: GM announced yesterday that the Chevy Volt purchase price would be $41,000.
■Electric Vehicle Tax Credit for the Chevy Volt: The Volt qualifies for a full electric vehicle federal tax credit of $7,500 (bringing cost down to $33,500). It might be eligible for state credits as well, depending on the state (note: Oregon is offering $1,500 off, Georgia is offering $5,000).
■Volt Lease Price: $350/month, 36 months, $2,500 down.
■Luxury Standard Features: Just about everything, including 8 airbags, 5 years of OnStar, Bluetooth capability, 30 GB hard-drive for music storage, 6 speaker Bose sound system with subwoofer, remote start, navigation with voice recognition.
■Warranty: 8 years, 100,000 miles on all electric components.
■Mileage Range: 40 miles electric (gas and emission free) + 300 miles on internal gas engine to power electric drive.
Nissan Leaf
■Nissan Leaf Price: $32,780.
■Electric Vehicle Tax Credit for the Nissan Leaf: The Leaf qualifies for a full electric vehicle tax credit of $7,500 (bringing cost down to $25,280). It might be eligible for state credits as well, depending on the state (note: California offers a $5,000 credit for the leaf, and not the Volt).
■Leaf Lease Price: $350/month, 36 months, $2,000 down.
■Luxury Standard Features: Bluetooth, navigation system.
■Warranty: 8 years, 100,000 miles on all electric components.
■Mileage Range: 100 miles electric (gas and emission free). No internal gas engine for extended range.
Chevy Volt Versus Nissan Leaf Review
I have been clamoring for electric vehicles for a long time now. The Tesla Roadster (out of most mortal humans price range at $108,000) and the unreleased Tesla Model S (a more modest $49,000 before incentives) both get 300 miles on a charge. So the technology is there to provide a 100% electric vehicle that can take you just about anywhere in a day. But neither the Volt or Leaf were able to come anywhere near that range.
So, I’m conflicted. I like the fact that the Leaf is 100% electric (no emissions). However, the range pretty much makes it a commuter car only, unless you have friends every 90 miles or so that you would allow you to charge up your car on an extended trip.
For that reason, I like the Volt’s extended range capabilities. However, the 40 miles on one charge is not jaw-dropping impressive, especially when you consider than the older lead-acid batteries on the EV1 had a range of 70-100 miles, back in 1996. For anyone with a decent commute, you wouldn’t be able to go 100% electric on the round trip unless you had somewhere at work to plug in. If GM could have just pushed it up to 60 or 80 miles on a charge, it would have provided a lot more convenience.
Both vehicles are cheaper than I was expecting them to be, when the tax credit is factored in (and much cheaper than the EV1 that GM leased in 1996, which was $400-$550/month). If you can nab an extra $5k state tax credit, you’re looking at a $20,000 cost on a new electric Leaf. Not bad for an all electric right out of the gate! The purchasing tax incentives and lower sticker price lead to the Leaf being the better deal of the two for buyers.
With GM subsidizing the Volt’s lease price to make it equal to the Leaf (excluding a + $500 on the down payment), it makes it the better leasing option because of the super standard options and extended range. Plus, it’s easier on the eyes.
If either GM or Nissan read this and would like to let me indefinitely “borrow” either vehicle, I might be able to review in more detail. Make a believer out of me. (Note to GM: I’m in the Detroit area).
Not that either is more cost efficient than buying a used Honda Civic, so don’t blast me on that. But which of the two would you buy?
Friday, March 11, 2011
2600Online.com - Adventure - Online Atari Games - 2600 Games - Pac-Man - Ms. Pac-Man - Berzerk - Yars Revenge - Classic Games - VCS
2600Online.com - Adventure - Online Atari Games - 2600 Games - Pac-Man - Ms. Pac-Man - Berzerk - Yars Revenge - Classic Games - VCS
What can be cooler than playing your old Atari 2600 games online?
Nothing.
More on this later...
What can be cooler than playing your old Atari 2600 games online?
Nothing.
More on this later...
Thursday, March 10, 2011
'Wimpy Kid' Author Keeps Day Job on Kids' Website - ABC News
'Wimpy Kid' Author Keeps Day Job on Kids' Website - ABC News
I like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and I've seen the movie, and I like Poptropica too. I didn't know Kinney worked on the website, so that makes him and both of these things even cooler.
Also, just found out that the next movie Roderick Rules will be out March 25, 2011!!
Kick ass!!
I like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and I've seen the movie, and I like Poptropica too. I didn't know Kinney worked on the website, so that makes him and both of these things even cooler.
Also, just found out that the next movie Roderick Rules will be out March 25, 2011!!
Kick ass!!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Mafia Party Game Online
There is a party game called Mafia (or Werewolves or sometimes other things) that is also played online in forums. I just recently started playing it, and enjoy it a lot. It combines logic and analysis, and is usually a lot of un.
A cool site for learning the basics of the Mafia game, it includes roles and how to play. The links take you to Mafiascum.net, but I like playing at Paranoia Paradise.
I mostly play here:
http://community.wizards.com/paranoia/go/forum/viewcategory/76625/Mafia_is_Serious_Business
A cool site for learning the basics of the Mafia game, it includes roles and how to play. The links take you to Mafiascum.net, but I like playing at Paranoia Paradise.
I mostly play here:
http://community.wizards.com/paranoia/go/forum/viewcategory/76625/Mafia_is_Serious_Business
20 TV Pilots We Hope Get Made Into Series - TV.com
20 TV Pilots We Hope Get Made Into Series - TV.com
Some of these seem OK, some seem like a total waste of time and effort.
Hey, why not just bring back Heroes?!!
Some of these seem OK, some seem like a total waste of time and effort.
Hey, why not just bring back Heroes?!!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wheel of Time Re-Read Index | Tor.com | Science fiction and fantasy | Blog posts
Wheel of Time Re-Read Index | Tor.com | Science fiction and fantasy | Blog posts
Since I plan to do this when the last book comes out, I want this link to be available. I can then compare mine to hers!
Since I plan to do this when the last book comes out, I want this link to be available. I can then compare mine to hers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)