Imagine IT Done The Right Way

People that have been to Jakarta must have dropped to Gambir Train Station even for once. I am sure of that. And I am also sure that those people will have to carry this dissapointment to wherever he/she went. Say, you're going to Bandung with Parahyangan Train you will have to go in line, stand up in the queue for may be 1 hr and make a wish hoping the ticket will still be available when you stand up in front of the booth. Yes, people sometime spend hours and than found out that the ticket was not available. 

My question is why we should be in queue in one ticket booth while there are many other booths empty. Tickets are just a bunch of numbers, why not just let the computer and the network do it easier. With a proper software and a network, you can just stand in front of any ticket boots. I am sure that a queue is not needed this way. Furthermore, the system can always provide realtime info on haw many tickets are still available. 

I wonder why it seems so little of IT systems in Indonesia Government systems or Government-owned company systems are done right. Still, nobody seems to care.

In Gambir Train Station case, we know that trains are GPS-able. We should have known if a train is detained somewhere and is gonna be late. Or how many passengers there are, daily, weekly or whatever seasonly they are. They are all calculate-able, anticipate-able. But again, try go there to buy a ticket, and you will get dissapointment.

IT systems are just tools, mate I know. It's the man behind the gun that is important, but. If the men behind IT systems just don't give a shit of what they are doing then any system will be a waste. Bullshit in - bullshit out, dude.

Yes, that's the point I guess.  If an expensive system just don't work, then it must be because of this "bullshit in - bullshit out" principle. So you know that people behind the system just don't mean to be better. Then the complete phrase would be "bullshit in - bullshit out - bullshit system - bullshit people", and that what Gambir Train Station is.

I believe that IT people should be aware of this situation. Try to deploy real IT, not a bullshit system that we know won't work. I know this is hard. Frankly my intuition is saying that maybe less then 10% of Indonesia Government IT projects are effective, budget-wise and operational-wise. If you have data to approve or disapprove it, I will be very grateful if you share me some.

Anyway, IT is now moving fast forward, everything is connected and transparent. So why don't we?

 

MacBook with IPAQ Modem, What a Happy Day!

Experiencing MacOS X is really something. I install 2 OS in the gear, first MacOSX off course. Then the other is Win XP Pro with Bootcamp. Firstly, I use windows because all of my office work was on Windows, off course. I use all microsoft stuff in the office from workstations, file server, mail server, DVR and all. And I was kind of scared that my MacBook will not provide satisfaction to my boss. So there it is, I have two OS.

Another thing that I love most is my IPAQ 612 Business Navigator. I'll say it is a cool stuff. With Windows mobile running in it, it is heaven. I like surfing the net using my IPAQ as the modem with connection thru USB to my Windows on my MacBook. Yes, I had to run Windows when using it before I knew my MacBook could use it's modem with Bluetooth connection.

It is awesome. Now my MacBook is really a magic box for me now. I don't know, maybe MacBook would work better with its spouse: iPhone. I haven't think much of iPhone though.   My Ipaq is new, functional and have this pushmail mechanism with its Windows Mobile 6. However, my office's mail server is Ms Exchange so Windows Mobile seems to be OK now. I might shift more to apple based gears though since I get less and less using Ms Windows. Gotta tell you, Apple is addictive, mate.

O, by the way, IPAQ 612 does not have its own GPS. It has to have an external GPS, that is the only glitch, i think. The rest is wonderful.

 

Move Ahead to Vista, Office 2007, Or Even Windows 7, Anybody?

It is pretty sad if in year 2008 we are still using a bunch of products of year 90s like Windows XP or even Office 2003. C'mon, we are living in a very fast growing world. Remember, the (real) computer was only born in year 80s, that's two decades ago. And guess what, we are still using the same software for the last decade.

So it's time to move on. Get to the next level. I remember this movie "The Pirates of Silicon Valley", there was a scene when Steve Jobs said something like "this (computer) is replacing the dead culture" thing. Well, I think, using the same thing and doing the same thing for a decade must be a some kind of dead culture too. So yes, let's move on.

However, how are we gonna do it? well, it is clear that at this decade we only have 3 platforms which are: Microsoft, Linux or MacOS (which is actually built from UNIX). Let's talk about Microsoft based things first, we're gonna talk about the others next time.

We are now having this Vista or Windows 7 and Office 2007 around for some time. Isn't it wonderful to experience new ways to do what we do? It is supposed to be. But you should consider these:

1. Changing tools to do what you do is not that simple. Because it is about getting the job done. It is gonna be very painful finding out that your problem become doubled just because you can't operate the tools to get it done. Sure you know the outcome of your job, but first you have to know how, and that is about mastering the tools. Office 2007 or Vista is using a very different 'metafor' with their predecessors.

2. Actual issues with the new tools.
Many Vista users are going backward to Windows XP, the precise figure is 35%. Check this link http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/21/one-in-three-new-vista-machines-downgraded-to-xp/ and this http://www.builderau.com.au/news/soa/XP-a-quietly-official-alternative-to-Vista/0,339028227,339282323,00.htm?feed=pt_windows_xp .
Office 2007 looks very nice indeed, but for some people it is not as cute as it looks, check this link http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=142 . Mate, 42% of false positive is just horrible.

Off course there are some mocking around that can fix that, but those ways are mostly illegal. For curiousity this link will provide some amusement http://www.hackingspirits.com/vuln-rnd/defeat-oga.pdf . Inter

In my opinion, if you are an effective kinda guy, use your current windows XP and Office 2003 and stay living in a decade ago, unless you have some IT Dept to throw the blame to.