Entries by Tom Peracchio

On my commute to work this morning while sitting at a red light I watched 3 workers on a highway crew using leaf blowers to blow debris from the top of a concrete island at a intersection back onto the highway.

Why are we blowing things around, doesn't it make more sense to actually pick things up?

Doesn't it make more sense simply to use a broom and a dust pan to pick up the debris?  Or in the case of leaves, actually use a rake?

To actually remove the trash using some "low tech" method, rather than simply blowing it around, you would actually be cleaning up, and not be wasting the power used to run the leaf blowers.  Not sure if the leaf blowers were gas powered or electric, but either way, they are using some form of fuel or energy.

Someone needs to help me understand this concept of leaf blowers. 

There are some things by their nature that are very subjective. For instance music is probably one of the most subjective topics I know. I love progressive rock. Some people will automatically say they hate that genre of music. My goal as a writer is not to confront you and say look Progrock is where it's at, and if you can't see that you must be an idiot. My goal as a writer is to get you to see why people in general like progressive rock.

This is my opinion: I love progressive rock. There's too much of this three guitars and a drummer crap out there calling itself rock and roll.

This is my story: Many people tired with the main stream three guitars and a drummer brand of rock music discovered the extended musical structures and intricate instrumental patterns and textures of the genre known as progressive rock. The often esoteric subject matter and frequent concept albums known to this genre created a new breed of rock music.

I'm not trying to get you to like progressive rock, just trying to help you understand why I like it.

So what's my point?

Yes, we all are biased in one way or another in what we believe. But that does not mean we can not present a logical and civil case for the basis of our beliefs. I am more than happy to talk to anyone about politics or religion, and enjoy hearing philosophical arguments. Where these conversations go bad is when A) it becomes personal in that my way is the only way and anyone who does not believe in my way must be an idiot or B) it becomes a sales pitch to convert you to my point of view.

I asked for the HBO Series John Adams on DVD for my birthday.  The seven part mini-series is based on David McCullough's Pulitzer prize winning book.  I have not read the book, but heard a lot of good reviews of both the book and mini-series.

After watching the first two episodes, I am very impressed. I'll probably watch the entire series once through, for the pure enjoyment of it, before I start looking too much at the details, but so far at first glance, it feels pretty historically accurate.

The portrayal of John's wife Abigail Adams as an important influence on many of his decisions sheds quite a bit of light on the role of women in this day.  It is clear she advised John on many issues of the day, and she was also strongly pushing for women's rights.

I really love political philosophy, and the revolutionary war era, so I am very happy HBO took the time and energy to produce such a historic drama. I can only hope enough folks take the time to appreciate it, and appreciate all that it represents.

Anyone who gripes about what this country owes them, needs to sit and watch this entire series, to see the sacrifices that were made by the many men, and women, who fought to make these United States possible.

In a recent forum post regarding a major system upgrade I read the comment from one of the end users that the changes made were probably because of those "IT types that want something new to tinker with."

As someone who has been in the technology field for many years, I will tell you point blank, seasoned IT professionals do NOT want something new to tinker with when it comes to a production network or system, and will almost always err on the side of caution when it comes to adding something new or changing anything.  We understand that change, any kind of change that has an impact on end users, will create headaches.

It is really frustrating to see remarks like that.  For many IT Managers, there too many cooks in the kitchen telling you what kind of soup to cook. How would you like to be the responsible for cooking the soup, and not even being allowed to shop for your own ingredients?


The unfortunate thing in technology, and again I speak from many years of experience in the field, is that most technology decisions are made for reasons other than technology.  "IT types" usually have some say in how things are implement, but rarely have the ultimate say in what gets implemented and when.  In many cases choices are made by some form of committee, or at least influenced by other non technical departments.  As the old joke goes, if a camel were designed by a committee it would have 12 humps.

In this internet age of blogs and forums, everyone is giving advice. I believe in karma, and the concept of pay it forward.  I have learned many lessons in life, and have many experiences to share.  If there is a quick tip or trick on a given topic I can share, I try my best to communicate it. However, if someone asks me a question, and I don't know the answer, I don't feel obligated to make one up.

I read the following remark in a forum the other day, and I just wish I could find the person making the remark so I could deliver a whack up side their head...

I've never used product x,  but what I believe is ...

In the first half of the sentence they are stating they have no first hand experience in the matter, but in the second half of the sentence they are giving their opinion. What frustrates me even more is this was on a technology issue.  How can you claim to be a technology professional, and give an opinion on something you have no first hand experience?

For anyone who should stumble upon my humble blog, if nothing else I have ever said is ever remembered, I hope the next few sentences are remembered.

Talk is cheap, wisdom is priceless.

When asking questions, you want an answer based on experience, not speculation. When asking for directions, first ask if the person giving the directions has ever been there themselves. 

On a recent vacation day, I started looking for some old computer software I had stored away, and the day turned into a house cleaning day. Threw out a bunch of home mixed cassette tapes, old VHS tapes of recorded shows.  Even went through a box of floppy disks, found some pictures from an old digital camera that copied the pictures directly to floppy.  

Magnetic tape is a made of a thin magnetizable coating on plastic. It was the basis for many forms of audio, video and computer data storage. One of the biggest downsides to tape, other than finding a device that can read it, is over the years magnetic tape can suffer from deterioration much quicker than the modern tools that replace it.  Tape is being replaced by a variety of tools that have much greater capacity and efficiency.

I started thinking about all that tape we don't use any more, the music tapes, videos, and floppy disks. I copied the photos from the floppies to a hard drive, and will back them up as well to other media.  As far as the cassette tapes and the videos,  the one of a kind personal stuff I saved, perhaps someday finding the time to transfer them to some other media, but the ones of popular albums and movies, hardly seem worth the effort to convert to digital.  I can buy the DVD's of the old TV shows, download those old tapes from Napster. I guess this is all progress?

Also makes me ponder, as I do the majority of my compositions in the computer version of notepad first, and then transfer them to an application, how I no longer use the physical version of a notepad.  As someone who loves to study the history and origins of technology, and society, I think about all the historic documents, the scraps of paper that have such historic significance.  Letters from presidents to their wives sent from war zones, letters between political allies and adversaries, are now a thing of days gone by.  Kind of sad, we won't have these scraps of paper anymore to look at in our museums.  

There is so much history, not only in the words, but in the handwriting as well.  Somehow the transcripts of a text message just doesn't feel the same.

Earlier this week I saw the Lynyrd Skynyrd band at the Delaware State Fair.  Much is written about the differences between the generations.  Monday night in Skynyrd Nation I saw as many fifty something fans, as I saw twenty something fans, all have a great time together, as was validated by my 19 year old daughter who joined me, and told me how much she really enjoyed the concert.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd band has survived many personal tragedies since it began in 1964. A plane crash in a Mississippi swamp in 1977, took the lives of three band members, and severely injured many others. Strangely enough the title of the album just released was Street Survivor. It would take many years for the emotional and physical injuries of the band to heal.

In 1987, Johnny Van Zant stepped into the role of lead singer that was vacated by the death of his older brother founding member Ronnie Van Zant, and the band lived on.

Back in the 1970's singer songwriter Mac Davis wrote the song "I believe in Music."  While I remember the song well, It was not one of Mac's biggest hits.  That's a shame for a song that proclaimed "Music is the universal language."  As someone who studies music and philosophy, I often see comments on the differences in generations, and how these differences are often marked by differences in music. Many years ago I did a work shop for a social services agency with people from very diverse backgrounds. I used music as way to start conversations, and find common interests.

In recent years other members of Lynyrd Skynyrd have passed away for a variety of reasons, but as I have just experienced, the music lives on. While these comments are in praise of a southern rock band, the message goes far beyond music.  The Lynyrd Skynyrd band is a tribute to the American Spirit and not what divides us, but what brings us together.

Long before Twitter and Facebook, we had the CB!

There are many areas where telecommunications, and computers have parallels in their development.  For instance, one of the first forms of using technology for social networking was with a phenomenon throughout the 1970s and early 1980s known as CB radio.

CB radio, formally known as Citizens' Band radio, is a system of short distance radio communications between individuals.  The Citizens' Band radio service began in 1945 in the United States as one of several personal radio services regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.

While some folks may say the CB radio became less popular due to development of mobile phones, the CB radio was not used for personal one to one communications, as much as it was used as the information sharing and social networking tool at the time. 

Truck drivers and motorists used CB radio to locate gas stations during the fuel shortages and rationing of the early 1970's, and to share information on police speed trap.  Movies, television, and songs established CB radio as a cultural phenomenon during the 1970's.

Similar to chat rooms that came later, the CB allowed people to have conversations in a more or less anonymous manner.  Originally, CB required a license and the use of a call sign, but most people ignored this requirement and used made up nicknames known as handles. In fact CompuServe CB Simulator was the first online chat service in the 1980's and it based on CB radio so people would understand the concept.

The invention of the hashtag in Twitter allows people to follow conversations on common topics, and in a more or less anonymous manner jump in and comment on these conversations using made up nicknames. Sounds familiar.

A reoccurring theme in my Smart Technology web site is integrating many old school ideas with modern technology.  Last weekend, after resisting the Twitter phenomenon for as long as I have, I cautiously jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.

For weeks now, as I make my morning commute to work, I have been thinking, Twitter is the new CB radio.  Tonight I did an internet search on CB radio and Twitter. Seems that I am not the only person who remembers CB radio, and see the comparisons to Twitter.

There were numerous reasons why CB radio became less popular. Of course, with any technology, there is always something new and better that comes along. But during the peak of the fad, as I was there in the midst of it, the noise factor was not always due to the technology, but so many people acting like idiots drowning out the conversations of folks just trying to engage in social networking.  Will history repeat itself?

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.  -- George Santayana

With the roll out and branding of Guru42 being done in my spare time, it has been a slow process, as I don't have a lot of spare time, and nothing is ever as easy as it looks. 

It is just a matter of finding a few hours here and there to add the content. The Guru42 Universe is not a single site, but several. I have posted a few teaser blog entries to tell of things in the works. The basic set up of the sites is completed. Of course I'll always be tweaking the look and feel of the styles.  I have a lot of content queued up and ready, with more being added to each site every day.

I was going to wait just a bit longer, when the sites were a bit more developed, to start advertising the Guru42 brand  but, I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon last weekend.  Since I have set up a Twitter account, as you can see the link to it along the right side, I thought it was time to start a Facebook site for the  Guru42 Universe.

Check out the link to the Guru42 Facebook page on the right column as well.  Help me to "brand" Guru42! (That's the Guru42 brand, not band. Although the Guru42 band is not a bad idea???) 

Please take a moment to become a fan of Guru42 on Facebook! It's quick, it's painless, it's free!

Did a small bit of cleaning up and updating of SmartTechnology.info.  Cleaning, as far as a few cosmetic style sheet issues, yes, I am never happy with the look and feel, did some minor tweaks.  Updating, as far as adding a few Drupal modules for cleaner URL's and better meta tags.

Also adapted my Ignite Dover presentation from last week to fit on a web format.  A lot of the material for the "Great Power and Responsibility" presentation is from a work shop I did many years ago titled, "Beyond Great Ideas and Good Intentions."  As I say in my material on SmartTechnology, the lessons in my presentation are much older than modern technology, but success in new wave and Web 2.0 technology is the ability to incorporate old school philosophies with modern technology,

Check out the unabridged version of Great Power and Responsibility, from which my #ignitedover presentation was based now at: http://smarttechnology.info/great

I created a twitter account this weekend.  I had created one when they first started, and it quickly became more trouble than it was worth, so I deleted it.  I decided to take a wait and see approach before coming back to Twitter.

Some have asked, why take a wait and see approach to Twitter?  Why so cynical?

I was a member of numerous SIG's (Special Interest Groups) at commercial online services like CompuServe in the 1980's, I have been a member of numerous online communities over the years. Having been a member of numerous online communities over the years, with each new one that arises, I am just a bit less quick to jump on the bandwagon.

In 2007, an online acquaintance introduced me to Zaadz.com, as something more than just a typical social networking site, but a social networking site of like minded individuals with a purpose. It sounded interesting. I created my profile, added my content, personal likes and dislikes, started a few conversations, and went along for the ride.

In the introduction to Zaadz.com they promoted themselves as "Think MySpace for people who want to make a difference in the world."  In an internet post in 2006 by the creator of Zaadz stated, "Whereas most social networking sites seem to devolve into a Jerry Springer show, we want to create something that has integrity to its stated purpose. "

In a blog of Brian Johnson the creator of Zaadz he states, "I'm a philosopher who's passionate about understanding and living the universal truths while inspiring and empowering people to live at their highest potential."  News headlines are still to be found online from back in 2006 and 2007 touting Zaadz as a promising community of conscious capitalists wanting to “change the world.”

Zaadz.com was to be the social network for being conscious about your surroundings, learning and growing, and trying to change the World.  Wow, what could be more noble that that!

You create a profile using basic social networking tools, list your goals, your ideas, the books you are reading, want to read or have read, your favorite quotes, as well as your heroes and teachers. Sounds pretty familiar?

Not long after I joined Zaadz, in 2007, Gaiam, a "lifestyle company" that creates media content, acquired Zaadz.com for a greater community presence. Zaadz then was renamed Gaia.com.  So much for all that saving the world, guess creator Brian Johnson took the money and ran?

When Zaadz.com changed to Gaia.com, it seemed to lose some of the purpose and conscious that it started with.

In the Spring of 2010, Gaia.com was deemed unprofitable and it was shut down.  The site that originally touted wanting to “change the world.” was shut down "due to current economic conditions." Wow!

So if even changing the world has been postponed "due to current economic conditions"  I am just a bit cautious to jump on every social networking bandwagon on the first pass.  If that make me cynical, so be it.

Back in high school, there was the gang from the corner store, that was about six to eight guys.  There was the cruising gang, that was probably about 4 other guys.  And there was the gang from the other corner, that was maybe another  six to eight guys.

What does that total up to?  Maybe twenty?  If you wanted to know what the guys were going to do tonight, you went to the corner, and waited to see who showed up.

No e-mail. No cell phone. No Facebook. No twitter. You went to the corner, and waited to see who showed up. Pretty simple eh?

So now with social networking I can have Facebook friends, Twitter followers and Linkedin connections,  When I first start out, it's pretty embarrassing isn't it, if you just have a few friends?

According to British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, there is a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships.  This magical number is know as Dunbar's number, and is commonly cited as 150.  I feel much better now that I know that all these folks with thousands of friends are just fooling themselves. This is a pretty cool topic, and I will be studying it in more detail.

I think the Dalai Lama is a very cool guy!  He's very smart, and his wisdom is priceless, and I would really love to chat with him in real time.  But as one of his 696,315 followers on Facebook, I doubt I will ever get the chance.

So the question was asked of me, why is this blog not using WordPress blog script.  From a web development point of view that is a logical question.  I have standardized for now on using Drupal as the software of choice for my websites being built as content management systems.  This topic will be discussed in more detail at the SmartTechnology web site. 

If Drupal is chosen because it is the upcoming leader of content management systems, and has a well developed community, did I apply that same methodology to using Serendipity, the script being used here, as my blog software. The answer to that, is yes.  WordPress is well known, and well built, and has a good community, so why Serendipity?  As far as functionality WordPress is just a bit more than a blog, but not quite a full blown content management system.  Serendipity stacks up well as a basic bogging tool, and is one of the quickest to set up, and easiest to get up and running scripts I have ever used.  Literally within minutes I can set up a blog using Serendipity.  While the theme selection may not be quite as vast as WordPress, if the goal is simply a blog, there are plenty of nice themes to find, and with little tweaking of the style sheets, as I have here, you can match the blog to the color scheme of your others sites, or to match you liking.

I do give some thought from time to time about converting this blog to WordPress, just so from a development point of view I can say I work in WordPress, but for now that is not enough reason to change.  And quite frankly, this blog is a good example of something else other than WordPress, and for a average webmaster just looking to install something to have a blog, and learn a little bit about PHP and Style Sheets, I find it a very nice script for that.

Hope this helps to clarify that question.  If you want more information on Serendipity, check out the link to sy9 at the bottom of this page.

Happy Computing!

The second "burns me up" rant in a row. Not trying to be negative, but this is what's on my mind right now.

A few days back I was on Linkedin, reading through discussions groups and user profiles, and I just had the overwhelming urge to enter the following comment on my profile...   "Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz words make me tired."

I know in our world today, and especially in technology, acronyms and buzz words are sometimes hard to avoid.  But in discussion groups, and web site profiles, the bombardment to the brain of massive doses of this jargon makes me want to scream.

I have preached myself, early and often, the doctrine of "keep it simple stupid."  Most of my blog entries, and teaching over the years, while often about technology, is written with the hopes of being understood by any reasonably intelligent person.

I'm not sure what The Dalai Lama knows about technology, but he is a very wise man, who sure has a way of putting things into perspective: "simplicity is the key to happiness in the modern world." 

The premise of the 1960's television sitcom "Gilligan's Island" is a charter boat is on a "three-hour tour"  and runs into a tropical storm and gets shipwrecked on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. What was meant to be a "three-hour tour"  turns into a life long adventure.

In the business world many companies suffer from "The Gilligan's Island Syndrome."  That is when a decision that should take three hours, turns into a life long adventure.  The "Gilligan's Island" television sitcom was a funny show, and was of course, fictional.  For many businesses, "The Gilligan's Island Syndrome" is very real, and very sad.

An mental affliction which sometimes develops in an individual after prolonged exposure to the "The Gilligan's Island Syndrome" is "Paralysis by Analysis."  This  affliction is characterized by the constant need for information in any and all decision making.  Sadly enough "Paralysis by Analysis" becomes the negative mechanism for justifying no action being taken, under the misguided philosophy that you can't make a wrong decision if you make no decision.

There's a big difference between going with the flow and being too paralyzed to go anywhere. It’s fine to gather information, but true leadership is about being decisive, coming up with a firm decision and sticking with it.  

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."   — Albert Einstein