The Ashimmy Blog

Did I ever tell you the joke about the 12 pound gorilla dressed as a missionary?

So this little 12 pound gorilla dressed in a missionary outfit walks into a bar . . . , eh it doesn’t really matter. What is important is that for a 12 pound gorilla to grow up into an 800 pound gorilla takes more than just wishful thinking. In fact it takes more than just careful planning, a decent amount of luck (it is as true now as it ever was, that it is sometimes better to be lucky then good) and a bunch of bananas. So what got me on this King Kong kick? Well I do like gorillas, so much so that I have sponsored a few at friend-a-gorilla and you should too (it’s only a buck a Gorilla)! But I write today because my friend Brad Feld, has a post up today called the 800 pound Gorilla problem.

Brad was at a board meeting recently and the comment was made that the company was the 800 pound Gorilla in its market.  Brad said it was just a 12 pound Gorilla because the market it played in while growing quickly was still small. Too small to support an 800 pound gorilla.  Brad says this turned the conversation at the board meeting from a back slapping orgy of self-congratulations (I call it smoking your own socks) into a thoughtful discussion on how to grow the gorilla. That got me to thinking.  King Kong grew so big because his habitat allowed him access to food, room and everything he needed to grow.  The same is true for the 12 pound gorilla.  Without enough bananas (read cash) to fuel growth they can never get that big.  But as important the gorilla needs the room to grow. In Brad’s example, the market has to be big enough to support the 800 pounder. 

So how does the 12 pound gorilla make their market big enough to support an 800 pound gorilla?  Well that is dependent on a few things.  Missionary work is never easy, but if you are the leader in your nascent market you have to do missionary.  Also just plain dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time (an entrepreneurs best friend) doesn’t suck.  Finally, your vision that made you pick a market that you believed could grow into a big enough market in the first place comes into play.  The problem with playing the missionary though is that as often as not someone else can come in behind you, benefit from all of your hard missionary work and surpass you with a cheaper, better, faster solution.  You see the 2nd mover didn’t have to waste the time and resources on the missionary thing.  He just got right down to business. 

So as Brad says, realizing you are only a 12 pound gorilla helps focus you to the task at hand. But not all 12 pound gorillas grow up to be King Kong. Eat your bananas, hope today is your lucky day and never think for a second that your gorilla status today entitles you to anything tomorrow but more hard work.

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Someone is sneaking it in

I really like the column Charlotte Dunlap writes over at Forbes. One of the few mainstream media outlets that usually have something worthwhile to say on security.  Charlotte’s latest article is called “Facebook And Twitter's Corporate Problem". I think the title should be Corporate’s problem with Facebook and Twitter. To me this is the same shoveling sand against the tide arguments we have heard about web browsing at work, instant messaging, personal email, wireless access, open source software, etc, etc. finding their way into the workplace. File it under “you can’t stop progress”.  Social networking is already in the workplace and short of nuclear weapons you are not removing it.

When I think of the multi-billion dollar email security industry that Charlotte mentions I think of spam filtering and email AV. I think what Charlotte describes is more DLP. Preventing corporate secrets and sensitive information leaving the network.  DLP is still a relatively new technology and has not reached critical mass yet.  Unfortunately there is still a ton of data flying out the gateways of networks that shouldn’t be.  But the same way web filtering has not stopped employee’s browsing, you are not going to stop the twittering and facebooking. 

As Charlotte points out they could make a “secure social networking application” for internal use. Reminds me of the secure instant messaging apps out there.  People use them, but they don’t throw out their AIM, Yahoo or MSN IM apps. 

The enlightened thing as Charlotte touches on is to make lemonade out of these lemons.  There are many positives that can be leveraged with social networking, Use it to your advantage and try to minimize the harm that can be done. But don’t be naive enough to think you are going to ban them entirely and certainly don’t think it is Twitters or Facebook’s problem.

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Dirty Vendor tricks done dirt cheap

Great article by Dan Tynan in InfoWorld about the 6 dirty tricks that vendors pull in selling IT to customers.  While I agree with most of these and will comment on them in minute, let me also say that as PT Barnum said, there is sucker born every minute.  Rather than blaming the sales guy or the vendor, buyers need to smarten up and fly straight.  Fool them once shame on you, fool them twice shame on them. Anyway here are the top 6 dirty deeds done dirt cheap according to Tynan:

• Dirty vendor trick No. 1: The magic demo – We have all seen or heard this one before.  The demo that makes the product look like it was made for you. Usually this is because it was made for you.  Frankly I like to see a demo on a live system and let me click around if I want to.  Personally I very rarely let a sales guy get beyond the first slide before I take the presentation where I want it to go. But if you are going to sit there like a lamb being led to slaughter, well you get what you deserve. Question, question, question!
• Dirty vendor trick No. 2: Underbid, then overcharge – Oh I hate this one! If the price is too good to be true, it usually is. There is nothing free in life. It amazes me how many people think they are going to get something for so much less than makes sense and then are surprised when the vendor sticks it to them. One of the things we do at StillSecure is a full SOW on any services and full schedule of maintenance and upgrades that are included.  Frankly as a vendor I hate surprises too. 
• Dirty vendor trick No. 3: The customer headlock – I call this one the “Cisco Maneuver”.  You know the story come in with your own people on site, own the network, make them totally dependant on your people to run the network. Oh while you are at it, turn on as many proprietary technologies as possible.  Make it damn near impossible besides cost prohibitive to even think about switching vendors.  Yeah, also give away one part like the NAC stuff for free to sell more switches and ACS radius servers.  You have never seen a vendor do that before have you?
• Dirty vendor trick No. 4: The billing "mistake" – You have seen this one. I go over all my bills with a magnifying glass.  It amazes me how many big companies make mistake, after mistake. But that is only half the story. How about the practice of reserving the right to boost yearly maintenance by more than the agreed %. Look at the fine print of your renewals. You will see the vendor usually has the right to a 5 to 10% variance over the agreed to maintenance %. I think it is just slimy and hate it.  But again you should be responsible enough to go through your own bills.
• Dirty vendor trick No. 5: The forced upgrade march – Another one that gets me going.  Why is it within three months of buying the product the new version is out. Worse yet is when the vendor says they will only support the new version, so you can use the old version at your own risk and good luck to you.  At StillSecure all upgrades and updates are included while you are under maintenance.  But certain network hardware vendors love to pull this one.
• Dirty vendor trick No. 6: The clueless customer – More accurate is the divided customer  Sales folks and vendors are very good at figuring out who to play against who and who signs the checks.  Playing factions off against each other is a way to slip a quick one in.

With all of these though, the you can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time rule applies. Sooner or later people wise up.  But until they do, these dirty tricks will get you if you are not vigilant. So in honor of dirty tricks done dirt cheap, I give you some AC/DC:

Come on baby hit me one more time (Its iPhone upgrade time again, Oh God)

Image via CrunchBase

I don’t know what is with me. I must be either a  closet masochist, a glutton for punishment or just plain stupid (or maybe all of the above).  For whatever reason I felt it necessary to try and upgrade to the latest version of iPhone software today when prompted.  Every fiber of my being was screaming no don’t do it. But I did anyway.  For those not familiar, every since I got my iPhone about a year ago, everytime Apple has put out an upgrade to the OS, my phone has bricked.  So why should this time be any different?  Did I really think Apple would give a crap about their AT&T customer base and actually fix whatever bug consistently causes this problem?  Of course not! 

Same old, same old. I upgraded, the phone bricked, iTunes froze, locked up the computer. Had to reboot, same thing happened. When on to another computer did a clean install. Wiped out everything on my phone, came back to my old computer did a sync and now I am spending the rest of the night re-customizing and trying to find what I have lost. 

When am I going to learn.  Apple you suck!

Blogging at 35 thousand feet

Travelling to Denver today on Delta.  My flight is equipped with GOGO Internet so I am able to have full access while flying. It is really pretty cool.  The only thing is that when I signed up for it last week it was 9.95 for the duration of the trip. Today it is 12.95! Are they experimenting with pricing to see how much people are willing to pay?   Much more than this and unless I am on a 5 hour flight, it doesn’t pay.  Also with battery life being what it is, how much on line time are you actually getting.  But for now the novelty hasn’t worn off and am enjoying the freedom it gives me!

Is the Blackberry the new Pinto?

Image via Wikipedia

OK that is what Galen Gruman says over on InfoWorld.  I actually remember the Ford Pinto, it was a great little car until we found out that certain rear end collisions could ignite the fuel tank causing an explosion.  Since I have not heard of many Blackberries actually blowing up, I don’ think a Pinto is exactly what Gruman meant.  However, I do agree that comparing it to an iPhone for the most part is today looking at yesterday. I would probably pick a Duster or Pacer to a Prius though.

In any event I agree, while the Blackberry brought mobile email to the masses, the iPhone has brought web browsing, first rate phone and all of those apps besides email.  Blackberry has not succeeded in moving beyond email.  Now, if they could just do something about making the upgrades work better, Apple might be on to something!

In the case of Chrome 2.0, does speed kill?

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On my laptop in addition to IE 8.0 and the latest version of Firefox, I also keep the latest version of Safari and Google Chrome.  While I don’t use the two latter browsers very much, I do occasionally log in with them and compare performance.  However since my password manager does not support those browsers and I use random passwords now, it is a pain for me to browse the sites I visit frequently and require me to log in to my account. As a result I primarily use IE or Firefox to browse (usually both are open on my desktop).

When I heard there was a new version of Chrome, of course the geek in me rushed over and downloaded it to see what was new and improved.  But like Preston Gralla says, the Chrome 2.0 upgrade can be underwhelming. The clean Spartan interface remains virtually the same, there are no new killer features. Unless of course you think speed kills.  This new version of Chrome is lightening fast! It was already my fastest loading browser before this upgrade and now it is sick fast. Yes Chrome does not have many of the bells and whistles that IE, Firefox and even Safari have.  But I really do like its clean interface and look and most important of all, I love the speed!

I just checked on my password manager (Roboform) and they will have a beta for Chrome by Q4.  Maybe then I will start using Chrome more.

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Would taxing tech companies foreign income kill the goose that laid the golden egg or just close an unfair loophole?

No sooner had President Obama announced plans to close down some loopholes that allow US based companies to defer and in some cases not pay taxes on income earned out of country, a group calling themselves the Silicon Valley Leadership Group voiced their objections. They claim that many of the largest tech companies like HP, Google, Microsoft and Cisco earn half or more of their money from foreign markets.  They pay the usually lower taxes in those countries and as long as they don’t take that money back in the US, they should not have to pay the higher US tax rate on it.  The group further argues that if these poor tech companies had to pay that tax, it would make them uncompetitive and wind up costing jobs. 

I think they talk out of both sides of their mouth.  I think the present system of letting them avoid taxes by not bringing dollars into the country incents them to keep their money and their employees and spending out of the country!  These countries often get their start by building a US presence. Yes they need to compete internationally but it is high time that we close the loopholes that allow these companies with billions in profit from paying their fair share.  As it is now if a company pays foreign income tax, they can take that as a deduction even though they do not take that income or revenue into the US and pay taxes on it.  Additionally they can deduct from their US taxes money they use to build foreign operations, while again not paying taxes on the money they earn from those operations.

Everyone wants our economy to do better and have more jobs here.  That means we need to put the incentives in place for these companies to hire Americans in America. It is very hard to feel sorry for these tech companies crying with two loaves of bread under their arms.

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When am I going to learn, stay away from iPhone upgrades!

Image via Wikipedia

I am a glutton for punishment.  How many times do I need to be kicked in the crotch to remember that when Apple puts out an update for the iPhone, stay as far away from it as I can! I went to update today because iTunes said there were important security updates.  I bricked my phone, iTunes bricked my wireless NIC on the laptop and now the phone upgrade just hangs.

I called ATT and after several busy signals got through.  They of course were useless (what else is new) and transferred me to Apple.  Josh from Apple gets on the phone all chipper and asks what the problem is. I tell him and at 3:20pm my time tells me that this is the second problem like this he has heard today.  I ask him how long he has been working today and he tells me his shift just started 20 minutes ago!  I am now waiting while another computer in the house downloads the 250mg update (slowed down by the load on Apple’s servers) and tries to upgrade my phone.  Until then no cell phone.

What will it take for Apple to get a simple upgrade right?  Why should it be torture every time there is an update to iPhone?  Every time you think it is safe to go back Apple shows you that they just can’t get it right!

The Facebook Phenomenon

Image via Wikipedia

OK, I will admit it.  I have been spending an increasing amount of time on Facebook over the the last month or so.  I am even chatting live with Facebook friends at night on line.  I haven’t done online chat since the days of the Imagination Network by Sierra back in 1992. I don’t think I have twittered more than 3 times during this time, preferring to post my updates on Facebook instead.  I see my friend’s twitter updates on Facebook and that seems to be good enough for me. I look at pictures posted, comments, status updates, friends of friends, groups, even stupid applications involving sharing gifts and such (I did join a group that professes to hate those stupid application requests).

So what is driving this near obsession? Am I alone in this? Based upon what I am seeing, I am certainly not alone.  In the last month or so my friend count has gone from about 75 to near 200.  My friends fall into three categories:

1. Family and current friends (people I am in touch with anyway)
2. Business contacts (not too dissimilar from LinkedIn)
3. Old friends and distant family I have not seen in years and years (this is the real driver for me)

There is just something very cool, and strangely appealing in a very weird way, about talking or finding out about someone you have not seen for 10, 15, or 20 years or more. I think this is the attraction that is driving this critical mass of Facebook adoption. The students who originally powered Facebook are still there. In fact my impression is that most of that generation have in excess of 400 friends. They are wired in and using Facebook a lot! 

However, I have also found that students prefer My Space better (I’m not sure why though). For business contacts, sites like LinkedIn would be sufficient, and its popularity attests to that.  As for real-time friends and family, you are in contact with them regularly anyway.  So it is the long lost friends and family that are unique to Facebook.  In many ways it fulfills the promise of a World Wide Web (of people that is). However, to be fair, Facebook also enhances the relationships and experiences of those in the other categories as well.

I find meeting old school and neighborhood friends really cool in a weird sort of way.  Finding out what ever happened to so and so and actually interacting with them is just freaky, but in a good way. Let me give you a case in point. During Junior High School there was a boy in my class name Jordan Gruber.  Jordan and I were never best friends, but we knew and liked each other.  After junior high, Jordan’s family moved from the neighborhood and I never saw him—or probably even thought about him—again.  Then, through the magic of Facebook, I saw Jordan’s name listed as a friend of another friend of mine from the same era. I sent him a friend request and presto, we are now Facebook friends. 

Turns out that after he moved, Jordan went on to get his undergrad and master’s degrees, and then a law degree. Now he lives with his wife and child out in the San Francisco Bay area. Take a look at http://www.JordanGruber.com, and you’ll see that by day, Jordan is the “Practical Wordsmith,” ghostwriting a wide variety of books in financial services, law, technology, and self-help psychology. By evening, Jordan is the CEO of Enlightenment.Com, a site dedicated to figuring out “what works” in the realm of spirituality and what he calls self-development, including his fascination with the mini-rebounder (mini-trampoline) as a form of highly effective and fun exercise.

In his spare time, Jordan, like me, is strangely attracted to the magnetic pull of contact with old classmates and friends on Facebook.  We had a live telephone call about this and agree that there is just something about it that is very fulfilling.  Jordan and I are going to get together for coffee next time I am out in the Valley, but we will keep in touch on Facebook in the meantime.  He also turned me on to some other mutual friends already on Facebook too.

So I am off to hunt down more names and faces from my childhood.  Who would you find if you could?  How long will it be until first loves find each other and run away together? This phenomenon has reached enough of a critical mass where we are going to see some very amazing interactions that are going to make Facebook a central and key part of our social lives.

Or as my friend Jordan in his best Enlightenment.com manner says,

“I think there is the potential for a powerful "integral" spiritual practice involved in embracing people and relationships from your past, that it is right here on our doorsteps, and that it is an incredible mirror for self-growth. I know I have been positively affected, and, it's quite the ride.”

The social networking race may in fact  be over.  Game, set, match Facebook!

 

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