Coredump

Interesting news at NY Times: IBM is set to launch social software tools in the corporate world.

(Hmm… I wonder if Sacha Chua’s ongoing research is part of this tool set?)

Here at work, we use Lotus Notes for typical “groupware” applications: calendars, email, instant messaging, and task management. I have also explored the use of blogs and wikis in my previous companies, but they did not really took off that well. Perhaps the IBM experience can lead the way in exploring the use of these thriving media for the workplace.

Originally uploaded by iandexter.

(Obligatory “the year that was” post, with your indulgence.)

If I could describe 2006 in one word, that would be “change”.

The year started with me rolling out this Wordpressed blog, from the previous Blogger-hosted one.

The Open Academy’s ICT roadshow kicked off in Northern Luzon. It was a resounding success, which eventually led to the building of an IT bus for Nueva Ecija. I’m proud to say that I was part of this project.

In April, I moved to another company.

We also learned that we’re having a baby. (We’re expecting him this January.)

Here’s yet another addition: I got me Mathilda! Schweet. Also, I moved to my own (vanity) domain.

I went on a blogging rut the next few months after that. (I resolve to change that this year. {More on that in a later post.}) I also took (and passed) the RHCT. I plan to pass the RHCE this year.

The year ended with a bang — well, lots of it. On the night of 30 December 2006, a stray kwitis (small rocket fireworks) exploded among a bunch of fireworks in the Cabanatuan City (my hometown) public market. A large fire engulfed a corner of the public market, as well as a drugstore and a bakery across the street. My wife’s lola has a small RTW store in that same corner. Fortunately, it wasn’t gutted down. The stores beside it didn’t have the same lucky fate. Our families were thankful for the miracle.

Some quotes from the executives:

Be cool, but not cocky. Be constructive, not merely complaining. Cooperate, don’t compartmentalize.

Instead of meeting competition head-on right in that wide red ocean, seek the river and a blue ocean of our own.

The current trend in the Philippines is business process outsourcing. Hello, we’ve been doing that for ten years now — we can claim to be the first global company to set up a full-blown IT shop in the country.

We won’t outsource R&D and support — our core competencies. Why would we move away from what we are strongest?

[Big-name IT company] suffers from a credibility problem in the security space. They’re not likely to take away that edge from us anytime soon.

We are always open to changes, so long as they are consistent with our core values.

We thrive in our willingness to make mistakes, and of not being afraid in making them.