Category Technology

Disclaimer: I like google, they’ve produced some amazing innovative things [IN THE PAST], but the past year or so has been a horrible game of Catch Up, as if they’re reading the newspapers about what’s been popular for a year and decide “Let’s make a knock off TJ Maxx version of something successful” and I’m sorry but it isn’t working!

Hi Google, you may know me… I use your Analytics, I host email off of your gmail redirectors, I also take advantage of numerous apps as well!

I feel it’s important that we discuss a number of… pursuits you’ve made in the most recent past.   Let’s start with…

Google Wave (-25)

WTF? I don’t want to go too much into this, because I think it’s been said by a lot of people.  Definitely, well done on mashing up a bunch of functionality very poorly to lump it together in an even more mismanaged interface.    We won’t discuss this any further.  I just wonder when it’ll be seen for the fail it clearly is, OR you actually innovate and make it into something successful.

Google Voice +-0

Hey! This is quite possibly one of the best things you’ve done in a long while! Sure it isn’t innovative – But it IS useful, in numerous ways most of which are likely not the intended usage, grin.   So, well done on executing a ‘strategy’ which has been done poorly for a very long time.  There’s a lot of potential there, and in the right cross-hairs it can integrate well, but innovation it is not.

Google Mail +-0

I like Google Mail, it’s like the Google version of Hotmail and Yahoo mail – Again, it’s not innovative, but definitely a useful strategy for getting consumers over to your network.  I know how the backend mail storage is handled and I actually find that quite nice and promising.  So innovative on the back-end, but from a ‘user’ stand point, there is no clear innovation which really stands out here.  Oh, integrating Google Talk into it? Excellent, Hey, wait, isn’t that like Exchange with Office Communicator? Yea, again nice catch up :)

Google Buzz (-50) WTF

Oh I get it! You think that by adding Facebook and Twitter together you’ll get Super Twitter Facebookery! Yea, totally. Following that logic, if I combine bugs with lightning, I should get lightning bugs.   But sadly, jumping 2-3 years late into something you PREVIOUSLY failed with Jaiku and trying to put some ‘Buzz’ around it by calling it Buzz? +1 in Marketing name Innovation, but a absolute FAIL on setting a clear direction, strategy and executing on it.   Just as an FYI: A majority of people use Twitter and Facebook as a means of communicating with a community, peers and others – and frankly if I wanted a consolidated source of whatever kind of ‘direction’ you’re claiming to project with Buzz – Err, I think I just described FriendFeed! Way to play catch up twice!

Google Android (-5)

Now you’re just taking the piss.   3 years after the release of the iPhone you announce Android! It may as well have been 300 years, because it’s pretty clear that in the most recent round of recession based layoffs that all of the talent which would have made the Android a complete success were no longer there. Grin.  This whole post may come across as negative, but in actuality it’s just an honest reflection of a constant (and moreso recently) failure to understand your audience, or I guess to understand we’re not simply idiots, we ARE buying Vision when we buy android, however you’re giving us a myopic vision so far filled with cataracts on the horizon.

Google Maps +1

I like and use Google Maps, though I wish you were a tad more respectful for preferences, to the kind of things I get out of Yahoo Maps.   You really took it up a notch here with Google Streetview, while that did nudge on some people’s ‘”Privacy” rights and violations, it did provide a vehicle for really breaking down barriers of ‘streets’ to bringing ‘locations’ to the masses of the world.   Why can’t you take this kind of strategy which said “Let’s do something like no other” and apply it to other areas, where you’re playing apparently LAME copycat games.

Google Search +5

To say I don’t use Google Search is like saying “Oh yea, I use Bing for everything”, which is clearly a joke.  Hey, I love Microsoft, and I absolutely love some of the innovations around Bing! Now make the content relevant to ME and we might be getting somewhere.  But I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have to search 25 pages in to find something I CARE about, whereas Google? You have my option on the first page? What’s that? It’s even in the top 5 positions, 95% of the time? Thanks Google!  It’s almost like this was the bread and butter you built your business on, but I digress.    You haven’t really innovated anything new in this space in recent times, other than “What’s local” and while you’ve kept up appearances of keeping the upper hand over all of the other search engines, I’m not saying I expect more from the search engine capability – But it may be time to see how you can leverage this to improve your other solutions and innovate! Oh and not through senseless tat like I’ve mentioned above.

Google BlogSpot “Blogger” +-You Don’t deserve a rating

I don’t think there is any lack of google searches you can find which won’t tell you just how much I HATE BlogSpot.   I’m sure it’s all fine and dandy for people who find WordPress or TypePad (Yea, I don’t like you either TypePad, but for different reasons) difficult.   However, Your FORCED and I mean FORCED like in Microsoft Style “Make me login with my Passport to try to do ANYTHING” submission you force upon me to comment on people’s blogs? Seriously? Hey, let’s CONSIDER for a moment open standards.  The credentials I use 99% of the time which happen to be tied to my domain do not automatically pass through when I hit a Blogger based site, and it wants to comment with the wrong creds.  I find the system doesn’t then let me comment using another set of credentials, I get frustrated, I don’t comment and I further go on hating BlogSpot.  Perhaps this is just a poor attempt at integrating Blogger (Who was decent BEFORE you purchased it) into the fold of the trillion other apps you have out here – Ooh, perhaps you should non-innovate on something “like” Microsoft Passport, but one which doesn’t suck like Microsoft’s or your own today! That’d be a non-innovation, but frankly, just opening up a Facebook/Twitter oAuth sounds like a better idea, grin.

Google Chrome +-0

Two years ago, I might have given this a plus, but seriously.   I do like the description on the google options page “A browser built for speed, stability and security” Strangely, three things it doesn’t exactly do very well.    Speed is AMAZING if I’m a single threaded boy living in a single threaded world, however as my usage goes up, scalability (not even mentioned!) goes through the floor, and with it goes Speed and Stability.   It’s because of that I cannot even begin to imagine it being appropriate for an audience like me.   I wasn’t even a “casual user” as I adopted the full use of Chrome 100% of the time, and found that I was using it for 98% of all of my web traffic, until I encountered scalability fail, and that story I’ll end there :)    The real story behind Chrome is a ‘competitive keeping up appearances battle with Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer’, but it isn’t exactly what I would call an innovative browser in any sense of the word, Sorry.

I could literally go on forever, because frankly Google has a lot of stuff, but I think I’ll end it on this one last ‘innovative’ note..

Google Invites +-WTF?!

Looking up the definition for “invite” by doing a “define: invite” in my browser, I come across several topical definitions: “tempt”, “have as a guest”, “request the participation”, “attractive and tempting”, although no where in those definitions does it say “Hey, let’s be a douche and stingy about our Invites”, I also seemed to miss the definition whereby “smoke and mirrors” was used in lieu of releasing a viable solution which actually DOES have a strategy and a vision.  Yea I know, it has the name “Beta” on it, which clearly means we have no semblance of planning, but let’s get with the program.   Every one on the planet wants to Opt-in for the latest and newest Google solution, just like everyone wants to try out the new Apple products 500 years before they’re “announced” yet, they’re so secretly kept under wraps that we’re all bored by the time they get released because it’s blatantly obvious.    Perhaps what might make your invites a little more, relevant could be Use Cases! (OMFG HE DID NOT JUST SAY THAT) Yea, I used the 4 letter word (2 words, 3+5 letters, but if you divide by 2, oh my!) Day 1 “Who has an invite for x!” Day 10 “Hey, anyone want an invite?” Day 100 “WTF Why is this still a crappy beta and I have a zillion invites!”    Yea, let’s focus a tad bit more on innovation, be a little more liberal with your ‘invite’ stream, and perhaps even have a viable feedback mechanism! (Whoa! Google Feedback with PSR like capabilities built into the application so people can provide content back to you? Oh no you didn’t!)

Alright, I’ll wrap it up here.  Seriously, I do love you guys, I’m sure you’ve lost a lot of great talent, and probably a majority of your creative talent too (If I’m wrong, let me know, perhaps you’ve overworked by trudging on some stupid project by some visionless neophyte, it wouldn’t be the first time!)  And if you want, we can sit down and discuss what ‘strategy’ and ‘vision’ are, perhaps even a little whiteboarding session on Creativity and innovation because I sadly haven’t been seeing much from you guys – And considering the level of talk of anti-trust and people considering Google to have even less Ethics than Microsoft did back in the day, I’d love to see so much more from you – Cmon, it’s the time of the “Cloud” so it’s time to get your head out of your asses and back into the clouds because that’s where “some” innovation might be found, frankly it’s gonna need more of it and not the constant parroting of what sucks today but in a cloudy model!

Feel free to challenge or call me out on anything I said, Googlers, Others, friends, foes and the like – These reflect my opinions and the thoughts and feelings of every one of you out there who would never say this in public but know you feel it and want to say something :)

No, I haven’t been watching Caprica so much I’ve decided to join Zoe and the STO… For the One True GodMode knows all and directs us all.  So say Windows7!

Albeit, it would be kind of cool if there were indeed a GodMode version of the Cylons.. but I seriously digress!

No, I’m here to tell you about GodMode in Windows7 (Also applies to Windows Vista, but pshaw on vista!)

Enabling GodMode is very easy – simply create a folder and name it “GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}”  After that, poof! The folder will change into this icon!

Wow! Look we’ve got GodMode! But changing a ‘folder’ into a magical icon isn’t exactly the king of things, it’s what comes beyond that!   You open that bad boy up and you see a screen which looks like this!

Here’s a little breakdown of ‘title’ sections you’ll get to dive into here within GodMode

• Action Center (15)
• Administrative Tools (10)
• AutoPlay (3)
• Backup and Restore (2)
• Biometric Devices (5)
• BitLocker Drive Encryption (2)
• Color Management (1)
• Credential Manager (1)
• Date and Time (4)
• Default Programs (2)
• Desktop Gadgets (6)
• Device Manager (1)
• Devices and Printers (11)
• Display (11)
• Ease of Access Center (26)
• Folder Options (5)
• Fonts (3)
• Getting Started (4)
• HomeGroup (2)
• Indexing Options (1)
• Internet Options (14)
• Keyboard (2)
• Location and Other Sensors (3)
• Mouse (8)
• Network and Sharing Center (16)
• Notification Area Icons (7)
• Parental Controls (1)
• Performance Information and Tools (4)
• Personalization (12)
• Phone and Modem (1)
• Power Options (9)
• Programs and Features (8)
• Recovery (1)
• Region and Language (10)
• RemoteApp and Desktop Connections (1)
• Sound (4)
• Speech Recognition (3)
• Sync Center (6)
• System (22)
• Taskbar and Start Menu (10)
• Troubleshooting (12)
• User Accounts (13)
• Windows CardSpace (1)
• Windows Defender (1)
• Windows Firewall (2)
• Windows Mobility Center (2)
• Windows Update (2)

Effectively what you get is a kind of ‘super control panel’ which is basically a breakdown of all features you’d get whenever you were to dive into each of these sections individually, except consolidated down to a single super GodPanel!

So, I leave you to play with it, and try not to get taken over by any Windows7 based Cylons.  For the One True GodPanel that knows and directs all mgmt tools, So say we all!

Special thanks to Rob Nottoli for the link I was sent to about this, and the author of the article on this, @inafried “Understanding Windows 7’s ‘GodMode’”

Disclaimer: No offense is intended to anyone’s God’s in particular, as I did not name this particular function of Windows. Unless you’re a poly-theist from Caprica or your God happens to be Windows Vista, in which your god is CLEARLY dead, suck it up and start worshipping Windows 7 :) (And seriously, all you Win-XP-theists, it’s time to drop it, XP is DEAD!)

First of all, let me be the first to give you a hearty welcome to EMC! Sure, I know I’m not the first person to welcome you and I definitely won’t be the last, but it goes without saying that welcoming is an experience I’ve found occurring countless times since joining this amazing organization!  

Disclaimer: The following diatribe is not created by someone who has ‘drunk the Kool-Aid’ nor have I lost my objectivity of what is reality and what indeed isn’t.   Everything is founded on real fact and experience, whether my own or others I have interviewed and had discussions with.  So if you think this is all some single sided touting, feel free to call me out on it, it isn’t. ;)   If you happen to be someone who is looking to join the organization – the following tips can apply to you as well, as a preparation of what kind of organization you’re aiming to be a part of.

Here you are, whether it is your first day, first quarter, first year, or first whatever or beyond – You’re part of a championship team now!    But this jibber jabber isn’t preparing you for anything unless you have something concrete to work with, what to know and what to expect!    Let’s see how well we can tackle that journey!

What to Expect

• If you had any negative preconceived notions of what life is like or what to expect – You may want to find out just how much truth there is to that
  • Personal Story: I had impressions of the business – going back over 10 years, these impressions stuck with me (a stigma which is not too uncommon when someone gets that ‘bad taste in their mouth’ even if it wasn’t their mouth, but instead someone else’s.)   Thus I was apprehensive and wanted to confirm the truth of these matters, even so far as bringing it up in the interviewing process – citing specific detail of enormous negative consequences, not only what I believed, but what I had heard from countless others over the years and even the recent past.    End result was that not only were most of these facts unfounded or outright wrong, but that they were very much no longer the case.   The ‘’true’ situations going back over 10 years were long gone and replaced by a culture so upstanding that those of you with history might look and be surprised that the business culture had changed so dramatically.   Thus the old adage of calling EMC “Evil Machine Corporation” in my mind has been CLEARLY replaced with “Encouragement Meets Culture”  (or fill in the blank of your own positive statement, because frankly you’ll find numerous potential acronyms to work with!)
• Encouraging and persistence in ensuring that you succeed
  • If you like to work alone, do that and be successful!   However, you are surrounded by peers of equal or even greater ability than yourself!  (Are you used to that?! People who rock just as much as you do? Get used to it!)  You’re bound to find countless OMFG Intelligent, Passionate, Engaged, you name it! People who come to work with the same level of drive which got you to where you are in life and will take you to your next steps.   Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength and acknowledgement of your ability to get things done.   Don’t shy away from it because you will succeed, whether under your own weight or by carrying the burden with others!   More hands on the shovel builds a bigger bunker, and two or more GREAT heads is better than one!
• Education, Education, Education!
  • You ever get that feeling “Wow, I feel stagnant, I haven’t had any training or education in a long while”.  Yea, that is not an EMC story.  Actually quite the opposite.   I cannot speak for every role, but education is such an ingrained part of your daily, weekly, and quarterly lives that it’s not a question of “Will I get educated” It’s requisite for you to be constantly educated and as an equal with your peers in the organization and industry.   However, your education is not solely in the hands of leadership.   You have the power to invest in yourself and have access to quite possibly the most comprehensive library of education (digital!) resources you may have ever seen!   We care about educating our employees who have so many diverse skill-sets that it does not stop with technical knowledge found in IT degree classes, but instead dives much deeper…into relevant verticals, industry skills, and ‘soft’ skills which help keep the wheels turning in the world, let alone within any individual industry.     You have the tools at your disposal to help you lead and become a leader.
• Leadership that breeds and enables leaders
  • Grace Hopper once said “You manage things, but you lead people” which is an excellent example of the kind of leadership around here!    Have you ever heard of a successful model of ‘upper management building managers’ as opposed to ‘senior leadership developing thought leaders’    People who are followed are leaders, unrecognized or not.   (alright, not a lot of depth on what to expect there, but your results will definitely vary – All of my leadership ROCKS, so, take that with NaCl ;))
  • I don’t know about you but leadership recognition, women’s rights, GLBT and work place diversity are both very important to me.  So it rocks that these programs exist:
    • Keeping Working Mothers Happy
    • Our Commitment to Diversity
    • EMC Women’s Leadership Forum – EMC World 2009 WLF Panel Discussion
    • Grow with the Leader
    • Job Opportunities for Students and Recent Graduates
  • So, to sum this part either be led, or follow – but leadership is not an area you’ll find particular weakness here, I’m a testament to that :)
• Social Media Awareness like no other!
  • “What’s this whole fandangled facebooker thing? I’m confused by the twitter! Linked what? I’m not letting you in!”   These are all terms you’re far less likely to hear at EMC which not only has it’s finger on the pulse of social media, it damn near innovates with a lot of it, and leverages it to the maximum for core efficiency!
    • Personal story:   I dabble a little in Social Media, Yea I’ll evangelise on the subject and have delivered numerous presentations at various venues at lengths upon each of the core mediums for it, but I do not speak of it in a bubble.    In my previous life, I was reached out to, contacted and recruited through my profile on LinkedIn – I know what a lot of you will feel “Yes! The value of LinkedIn, this is why I need to update my profile!” And I absolutely agree, fill out that profile, fill it with relevant data, you’d be remiss not to.    However, how on earth does this story end?   One fateful day I’m sitting there at home doing some work, and I receive a phone call! (Oh my! :))   It turns out the hiring manager for a position had looked on his Facebook Network, looking at folks and peers and through a few clicks, and a google search against my name ended up at my blog where I keep a fairly current copy of my resume online (No, it’s not for job hunting! universities usually require a recent resume when you teach or deliver speeches there :)) but poof! A Phone call!   To tell you the truth, had it been an ‘inquiring recruiter’ I likely would not have given it much thought nor considered things, but when the hiring manager takes the value and power of his team into his own hands – That is the kind of team *I* want to be a part of!
    • Okay, back to TwitterBookIn…. :) I haven’t done the full math yet (I will soon!) though I’m hardpressed to find a single organization with as many advocates speaking out on behalf of it, and representing while taking an active and considerable role in the lives of the customers and community.    Whether it’s Chad Sakac and his great tweets and blog posts, Chuck Hollis and his unique way of getting the community talking, or Polly Pearson and her constant finger on the pulse of brands and culture at large – This is only a handful of the numerous other people you’ll find active on Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Blogs and more!
    • What do you mean I can get my job through Twitter?   Whoa, hold on there partner, did I say that? Okay, I guess I could say that ;)    There have been numerous success stories of people who leveraged twitter as a tool in order to aide in their job hunting, recruiting and insight into the business process.   And I don’t want to come across saying that EMC has a tendency to recruit heroes of industry who also happen to leverage Social Media and Blogs, because that’d be weird with that whole list of new hires I have below who ALSO happen to be very active in that space. ;)

What to know

• Your peers are your greatest asset, and don’t forget that.   
• Everything you know, is potentially right – But put it in context!    If you think things can be done better, and can prove it – that kind of insight may help you, your peers and the business do things better.   Don’t be shy to express your opinion, you may see things a different way, whether right or wrong – Learn the right way but be open minded!
• This is not a job, this is a career!  Career’s have potential, growth, upward mobility, etc! (You fill in this for me, your words not mine!)
• Invest in yourself and it will pay dividends, because the business will continue to invest in you over and over again.

What to know for Expats

• This is not (fill in blank of previous company)   Yes, I know probably HALF your team came from the company, but this is not there :)
• Remember when it was like pulling teeth to get the right thing done?  Yea, swap that – Do the right thing, it’s not only good to do, it’s the only way
• Security, Security, Security:  The pro’s and con’s of owning the best of breed security company in the world is… Don’t send confidential data externally, even on accident! (I’ve warned you!)
• Your relationships are your greatest asset.  Your peers and colleagues will get you through hard times, your relationships will keep you afloat in the storm.  Build and Re-build them.
• I love you and welcome to the company? Err.. Wait, that came out right.    No, but seriously. It’s great for you to be here! The longer you are in the industry the MORE people you’ll recognize ;) and if they’re not here today, your friends from the past may very well join you tomorrow ;)

A few final tips for looking new hires

• EMC is not a storage company.  (Wait, What?!?) Yea, that’s the stance I stand by firmly! Sure, we have the best of breed storage in the industry with unparalleled innovation across all bounds, but we are more than a storage company.    Did you know that we own RSA, the best of breed in security? VMware the hands down best virtualization stack on the planet?   I’d deduplicate the following statement but with Avamar and DataDomain in the mix, I can choose to do it at the source or the target!    Oh, did I forget to mention the other MASSIVE slew of products and solutions? No, I’d rather whet your appetite for more to learn and discover that on your own (World Class Consulting organization with a heavy focus on business process?!) Okay, I’m done.. for now! ;)   But seriously.   The opportunities here are boundless.   I usually describe the depth of breadth of solutions as “as many products if not more than microsoft” and the fact of the matter is.. I’m not even sure how many products we have, that’s just how many things we do (oh, did I mention excel at? :))
• Be sure to read 100 Job Search Tips from Fortune 500 Recruiters – Whether you decide to pursue a career at EMC or not, this book will improve your career hunt for the future and give you the upper hand on any everyone else by providing that insight that is often unknown about the hiring process
• Ask.    If you’re interested in what the work life balance is like, or how the products are, or what this or that is – Ask.   You can hit me up on any medium (social media, email, phone) and I’d be glad to answer your questions, and get you in touch with others who can also provide insight as well.   But it’s up to you to ask the questions, to get that insight, to take your career in your own hands.
• I could keep adding tips all day long, but I want to get this published, so if you feel I’ve missed something epic, let me know and I’ll gladly add it!

And last but not least, I would like to heartily welcome some of our newest hires (that I’m aware of!)    Scott Lowe, Ed Saipetch, Rick Scherer, Gilda Farvid, and Dave Cipparone!    So, welcome to the team and may every day be as amazing as the days I live out :) 

Allow me to preface this by saying – This is one in a series of tips, tricks and step in order to stay true to your “new years resolutions” furthermore, I personally do not set ‘new years resolution’ myself.  Why?  Because, one year I set new years resolutions.  I had a few very specific and precise resolutions which were VERY tangible, and I blew them out of the water! We’re talking multitudes and ratings which cannot even be calculated upon! So I don’t resolve things.. I just solve things ;)

But a lot of people like to set resolutions, which are often intangible and hard to meet, reach and exceed – Here in the following series of blog posts will be real tangible ways to achieve you’re often intangible resolutions! To make them accountable, and moreso, to make YOU accountable to your resolutions! (Ever actually keep one of yours? Here’s how!)

One of the top resolutions people will set falls within the realm of “Health” which often has stipulations such as “I want to get fit” “I want to watch what I eat” “I want to drop x pounds” or even “I want to get x amount of sleep this year”  Well, other than the tangible and concrete ones, there is absolutely no accountability for ‘getting fit’ or what ‘watching what I eat’ means, nor any real means of tracking in the others (they’re nice to haves, often controlled by your rather inaccurate scale! :))

Well, now with the power of the internets, and technology… You could very well meet these objectives in a concrete and tangible fashion!

I want to watch what I eat track my calories activity weight and sleep

So, you’ve decided to watch (for a few days) what food you’re about to eat “I’ll eat this pasta, but not this cake” whereas behind the scenes the cake may have been more healthy than the pasta?! wtf?!  Damnit! I can’t keep track of all of this on my own!”

Allow me to introduce to you numerous options available at your disposal!

Our friends at FitBit, the makers of the FitBit offer a free dashboard for logging food, activity, weight and more!

• As you can see from this dashboard, it tracks some pretty cool stuff! Calories burned (You manually enter it, or with the FitBit device for $99)
• Calories eaten is controlled by you manually entering the food you eat on a regular basis, whether through meals or individual items
• And weight is tracked manually by you as well (Hey, it’s not gonna weigh you itself! Though that’d be nice a mass indexer.. ;))
• And lastly.. it’ll also track your sleep efficiency! (again, this requires the purchase of the device!)

So, you’re telling me there is a website where half the functionality isn’t available unless I buy some kind of device for $99?!@?  No. Not in the least bit.

I’m telling you there is a website where half the functionality IS available, that you usually have to pay for from other sites (which I’ll mention in a bit ;))

Let the record show I do not own one of the FitBit devices (though I’ll gladly take one to do a formal review and comparison! wink wink, psst :))

In the event the hint is not taken and I am not sent a free FitBit to review.. I had intended to buy one anyway to do a formal assault/assessment of the device and how it compares to other similar devices intended to help you keep track without burdening you with trying to keep yourself accountable on paper. (Formal review of all devices will be coming soon!)

Now, something I can talk about even further is an actual device that I DO wear! The GoWearFit – This helps give me accountability on whateverthehell I am doing, and lets me know that if I want to obtain some level of fitness… I have a tracking mechanism build into me practically! :)

Yes, that is my actual arm! I took that with a camera, OMFG?! And yes that is my little sensor I took a photo on my lenovo with.. :)

But the real key to this, is the (PAY) subscription where it tabulates all of this data online for you to work with! Take a look at the BodyMedia dashboard!

• Calories Burned is tracked from the unit on my arm – the target is defined by me either manually or by accepting a ‘default’ series
• Calories Consumed is tracked by filling in what you’ve eaten for a given day, from a comprehensive list or manually entering in details
• Calorie Balance is the difference of the two above (Jan 2nd was a busy day and I never entered my foods I ate for that day! :))
• Physical Activity is a tracking of any activity which usually falls in the 1-3 or 3-6 MET’s range, I defined my target as 60mins of Moderate daily activity
• Steps Taken is literally just that – every step you take! You should walk 10,000 steps a day! I usually walk around 5000, so my target is low ;)
• Sleep Duration is my FAVORITE Part! It inspired a whole series of conversations on Facebook on the subject! I’ll show you more on it!
• Weight (and waist size) are manually entered, if you want to track things over time!

I’m not gonna too deep in this, because I’m saving that for a separate deep dive post later on, but let me show you the sleep duration bit, because people love that ;)

So, you may look at this and say “Whoa, You didn’t meet your sleep target of 8hrs a day!” Well, first of all, let me put a few things straight.. 5 hours and 55 minutes of undisturbed sleep! totally rocks! I average 4-5 hours of undisturbed, no tossing, no turning, not evening moving, just flat out sleeping! (and lucid dreaming if I agree to it before I sleep ;))

And to further that defense.. when It’s the weekend or a day off.. and I don’t have somewhere to be in the morning (rare) I sleep until 2PM, but this only calculates until noon, so.. :)

It looks like I have poor efficiency from my lying down time vs sleep time, but I lay down a lot (with laptops on top of me) with no intention of sleeping :)

So, when it comes to saying “Man, I’m tired every day, why is that” I have a tangible and very concrete place to reference to see just how much sleep I’ve been getting, and whether I’m well rested at all “Wow, I thought I got 8hrs of sleep, but I only got 2?!?” Etc, so on and so forth :)

Also, there is another tool which is very similar to these other two, the BodyBugg which is extremely similar with various differences – I’ll go into depth on that later, as @skyyogastudio is using that tool, I’m using this one, and if FitBit sends us one to test, Both of us will test it out (and then probably give it away as a prize at Sky Yoga Studio hint hint :))

So, what is the moral of this story and resolution?  You have tools at your disposal whereby you don’t have to do anything and it’ll keep track of half or more of your health.  And if you do a little effort, you can also keep track of how many calories you burn – whether it be for free using the FitBit dashboard, or paying and using the other tools by BodyBugg or BodyMedia

Welcome to Episode 2 in a series around information for you regarding EMC FAST! (Also known as Fully Automated Storage Tiering!)

You may recall from Episode 1 that I said this was something I am extremely excited about – and I thought I made that clear!  

To tell you the truth at first I was mainly excited about the V-MAX FAST, and didn’t even give much thought to the whole "Unified" Celerra FAST or  CLARiiON FAST

That was until I started to delve into the details, find, sort and collect the documents (which I unveil for you to find here!) and not to mention all of the other features above and beyond just FAST! That is what got me excited for FAST beyond the V-MAX!  So I hope this collection of documents gets you going in the right direction so you can become just as excited about FAST for the Celeriion just as I AM :)

I know a lot of you are looking for materials and information regarding FAST – There are numerous questions you have regarding this and since a lot of you are self-starters, I’m going to tell you what information I directly know about today, and where to get it!

Available today on PowerLink are the following documents around Celerra FAST and CLARiiON FAST in the areas of Introduction, Implementation and Solution

The documents below require credentials on EMC’s PowerLink – so please keep that in mind when it comes to accessing the links!

• Celerra
  • Automated Tiered Storage with EMC Celerra and Rainfinity File Management Appliance – Applied Best Practices
  • Celerra Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) Demo Lab Guide
  • Reference Architecture: Automated Storage Tiering on EMC Celerra
  • Reference Architecture: EMC Celerra Fully Automated Storage Tiering
  • EMC Celerra Unified Storage
  • EMC Rainfinity File Management Appliance
  • Storage Tiering with EMC Celerra FAST
  • EMC Celerra NetWork Server – Release Notes
  • Video: Foster Pepper on Celerra FAST
    • Definitely check out the video! I thought about hacking together a display of the video on here, but since it’s not published via YouTube or other, and I didn’t want anyone to spank me for exporting the .flv video, and uploading it or displaying it through another site – I’ll just link you to it’s source :)
• CLARiiON
  • Data Sheet: EMC CLARiiON CX4 Series
• Other great resources!!!
  • Theory and Best Practices for FAST: Performance and Planning
  • Enterprise Flash Drives and Unified Storage – Technology Concepts and Business Considerations
  • Clipper Group: EMC Rolls Out Fully Automated Storage Tiering and Other Storage Enhancements
  • Building the Virtual Information Infrastructure – Technology Concepts and Business Considerations
  • EMC Ionix ControlCenter 6.1 Admin guide – includes steps around FAST
  • Handout: Simple, Powerful, Unified Storage from EMC
  • EMC FAST and Technology Direction

Being that I’ve consolidated Celerra and CLARiiON into a single post, you might be asking “Well, what value do I get from either or both of these?!” Here is a Features and Benefits list!

I know what you’re saying “Wow Christopher, you got those marketing terms down pat!” hee, but seriously, those are quoted verbatim from the links mentioned above.   However, one hard solid benefit of Celerra you need to make sure you’re always aware of is the fact that on its own, Celerra largely reduces your backup window.  Add FAST to Celerra and watch out!

So, I hope you get as much joy and excitement out of this new launch and technology which will revolutionize the way you not only do business but by the way you think about SLA’s and business problems in the future.   I’ll cover specific details of how this has solved real hard business problems for customers so you can enjoy those successes like I have!

I’ve provided these direct links using PowerLink and a Partner account (not employee)  – Please advise if for whatever reason you’re unable to find something and I’ll be sure to get that taken care of and the document in front of you!   Also, if you come across a document I missed and you think should be included, raise the roof and let me know and I’ll be sure to get it featured here! Not to mention if you find a particular document to be overly useful, feel free to comment on that fact, I’d love to know which would be a better doc to re-read or recc’ to others!

I’m really excited about this and your questions are what will make me and the whole community as a whole a lot more knowledgeable around this subject! So Keep em coming!

Be sure to check out my other posts about EMC FAST: One Stop Shop for Symmetrix V-Max Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) docs! and FAST from EMC – Performance meet the quickening!