May 2003 Archives

It was a long day, and relatively interesting. I am not directly involved in Operations Research much these days, but there were a number of my chemical engineering friends at this symposium, as well as a people from business and other engineering disciplines.

I will be giving a talk at the INFORMS Chicago Chapter symposium on "Managing Risk in an Uncertain World."

Business intelligence and knowledge management don't seem too far apart, particularly as defined by Claudia Imhoff in this seminar.

Teleos announces the results of its latest survey of Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises. No pharmaceutical companies, but there are several chemical companies: 3M, Buckman and GE.

This study highlights the three KM strategies mentioned above and two major issues associated with deploying across boarders: Change Management and Culture.

I think the direction towards integration makes the most sense - not that one vendor will sell everything, but that the software I buy will be able to talk to other software.

Usability gurus, like Donald Norman, have been telling us that products and website need to be easy to use for years. Why do we still get poorly designed products? Maybe it is because the proponents do not tie usability to bottom line.

A perfect example of why we need good web usability from CIO Magazine.

The May issue of CSO Magazine talks about corporate spies and their main modes of operation. Reading this makes me paranoid that some of the recruiters who have called since my company was acquired are really snooping for other information.

Philanthropic organizations seem like a perfect place for knowledge management - particularly the knowledge sharing aspect. These organization are geared around helping others, and what better way to do that than by sharing what they have learned over time.

I'm the kind of guy that software vendors either love or hate: I dive into software to figure out how best to use it for me or my organization. But that also means that I turn up bugs and usability problems that remain in production code and frustrate my colleagues.

Why do I like music that doesn't make sense?

Just when you think you understand a topic, you stumble across something that dives deeper. This article discusses online social networks and is by one of the gurus in the field, Barry Wellman (and others).

I was going to complain about how slow the chemical industry has been in reporting significant changes to the FDA interpretation of the 21 CFR Part 11 rules on Electronic Records and Electronic Signatures in FDA-mandated activities. It turns out that there has been relatively little in the mainstream Chem Eng outlets at all.

The Sunday Chicago Tribune (18 May) has an article by Mark Caro, one of the regular film critics, on "The Matrix and modern anxiety" that somewhat parallels David Weinberger's recent thoughts at Seabury-Western.

The iLoo is a Hoax, but it is still funny. And it engenders all sorts of potty humor.

Dave Pollard provides a discourse on The Tipping Point as it relates to blogging and the description of how networks form and how blogs tip into popularity.

The internet, "No one owns it. Everyone can use it. Anyone can improve it."

I had hoped my first blog entry would be generated Thursday evening, but I was slow in getting this weblog rolling. David Weinberger spoke about Why the Web Matters at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. The occaision was the last of AKMA's monthly series on technology that have hosted an array of people...