This post is a bit outside of my normal technical content. I was struck by something on the way home today and can’t get it out of my head until I write it down. For the past several years (since 2005, I think) I have had a beard. A few weeks ago, I shaved it off. Guys that have worn then removed beards will probably be able to answer this next question: What is the most common comment I receive from people that are seeing me for the first time without my long-time beard? Continue reading “What does personal grooming have to do with business intelligence?”
I had to laugh today as I noticed a particular feature on my iPad. 
I was getting ready to log in to BOB. Here’s the screen shot. If you examine it closely you might see what amused me…
I will give you a few moments to look over the screen shot. Pay careful attention to the keyboard… when you are ready for the answer, click …. Continue reading “iPad Keyboard … Feature?”
Whether you’re a Facebook user or not (I am not) it has been hard to avoid the furor recently over some of the changes the service is making. One article at Newsweek.com says:
The fear is that people are being lured into Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service, and don’t realize that they’re paying for it by giving up loads of personal information.
Why is Facebook in hot water now, when other Internet-based companies like Amazon have been collecting and using our personal data for years? Maybe it’s because Amazon doesn’t automatically add new apps to your profile if you browse other sites while logged into their service. (Facebook reportedly allows this, although some articles are now providing responses from Facebook that dispute exactly how this process is supposed to work.)
I’m not writing this post to bash Facebook (you can probably find plenty of that already). I’m writing this post because I wanted to share an interesting visualization that I found from an author named Matt McKeon. He shows how the privacy settings for Facebook have broadened over the years. He also admits that some of the data had to be “made up” because he does not have access to hard numbers from Facebook, so read the information with that in mind. Continue reading “Facebook: It’s All About the Data”
I recently attended the 2009 TechEd conference. Here is a copy of the top portion of the session evaluation form. Notice anything that might cause a problem?
I know that form was reduced to fit the size of the page so it may not be immediately obvious what I think the issue is. In order to make it more clear I have posted a larger view of the specific survey choices.
Look at it for a bit and when you’re ready … Continue reading “It’s Not Always The Report Writers Fault”
I haven’t had a good rant in a while. I’m overdue.
Here are some real comments that were posted on BOB.
I already have around 18 contexts in Universe and hence I dont want to add any extra
The last two companies I have worked at, forbade the use of contexts
I only create contexts when I’ve got no other choice.
And this one wins the prize:
Here’s a list of what I cannot do (client requirements)
1. Cannot use contexts in the universe.
…
If you recognize one of your comments, please understand I am not ranting about you as a person, but about the sentiment or opinions expressed in the comment itself.
As a consultant, my job was sometimes to deliver a solution. At other times my job was to provide advice. My advice was based on my assessment of two things: what the client told me they wanted, and what I felt like they really needed. 
Continue reading “Use Contexts, Dammit”
Part of my recent presentation on Universe Designer was a listing of new features for XI 3.0. I will be writing about each of these features individually in some upcoming blog posts. But there is one change that I didn’t include in my presentation, and it involves the passing of an old friend that has been with us since 1996.
I am talking about this: 
Continue reading “The Passing of an Old Friend”
It has been interesting to look around during some of the presentations and see what everyone is doing. I see some folks on twitter, some folks working on blog posts (I recognize the Wordpress blog edit screens as I use it myself), some folks having IM conversations… and people are barely paying attention to the presentations. I try to watch and absorb and remember (I take a few notes) and then blog later.
For example, the InnoCentive information I posted about just a little while ago came out on other blog networks while the general session was still going on! So I guess my “live” blogging is not nearly as live as it could be. When I went to the first-ever phpBB (the software used for BOB) conference in London I did live blogging from the main session room because there really weren’t any breaks. Here there is a separate (private) room for bloggers to set up and do their thing, so I’m not sure why (other than being “first to market”) they feel the need to blog during the actual presentation.
Not much time to check facts or add references that way either.
I got a comment from someone new recently who said:
Sigh. There is so much about Business Objects that makes me scream “WHY??? Who designed this thing? Nobody who has ever used it in the real world, that’s for sure!”
First it made me laugh. But then it made me think. At various points Business Objects has done things that made their users extremely frustrated, and it seems that sometimes it’s because they don’t know what people are doing with their products. The best example that I can think of happened a very long time ago, but it was a “biggie” as they say. It happened during the update from 3.1 to 4.0. Anyone else remember those exciting times?
Continue reading “What We Do Without Business Objects Knowing About It…”
One of the most frequent questions that comes out of either the “building reports” or “universe design” areas on BOB has to be: how can I get rid of the time on my date prompts? And it’s not a new question; I bet if I searched I could find the same questions dating all the way back to 1998, which are the oldest posts we have on the board.
The overwhelming complaint generally boils down to, “… but my users don’t like it.” I get that, certainly I do. But to be honest it’s easier to spend an hour or two of your time 
convincing the users that it is more cost effective to leave it than to try to change the way the tool works. It’s not worth the time to remove the time when it works perfectly fine if you ignore it.
Normally I am all about trying to figure out a creative solution and do the “outside of the box” thinking. People that know me understand that one of the best ways to motivate me to solve an issue is to say something along the lines of “… and Business Objects said it can’t be done.” Well, then I have to do it. But not in this case.
Continue reading “Making the Best Use of Your Time (in a Prompt)”
As a community service I present the first post in my new “rants” category. I miss being able to rant… I haven’t been able to chew anyone out for trying to export a Business Objects report into Excel for quite a few versions now. So here goes…
If you have a cell-phone with a nice LOUD ringtone of your favorite musical artist, and the ring tone goes on for almost a minute, and the decibel level is high enough so that you can hear it over the rumble of your Harley, then for the sake of everyone’s sanity TURN OFF YOUR FREAKIN’ PHONE when you’re not at your desk. Or take it with you. Or put it on silent mode.
Or next time when you come back to your desk you might just be phone-less.
There. I feel better. Carry on with your normal activities.
