Opening up

Problem

Blog posts that actually make it here:

• 2006: 5
• 2007: 5
• 2008: 2

Bad.

Solution

Previously, none. A big part of the problem is the industry I work in (or so I thought until today, but more about that below). As part of a major system integrator, working in an oliogopolistic industry and on research related to what is considered one of its important foundations, [SENTENCE TOO CONVOLUTED - TRY AGAIN]

Ok, we're trying to see how can can further increase the bandwidth over existing copper, and this is important because, you know, the copper is already there, giving it a huge advantage in capex compared to new fiber deployments. Moverover, its a competitive market, so we have a tendency to be paranoid about what we are doing.

Another aspect is the research angle, where as part of Bell Labs, we have an automatic impulse to publish at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals (a kind of long blog post where you get the comments first, and then the permission to post; sometimes a flame war happens, but noone ever sees it).

So I tend to think "ah, something interesting to blog about", but then think twice and it just ends up in the drafts section or as an internal note or idea for part of a paper.

But

I today attended a talk given by Constantin Gonzales, at Sun, talking about the approach they have been taking towards the entire two dot oh thing, which incidentally appears to be important for us as well.

Their approach, other than the extreme focus on open source and open APIs, is to have an immense transparency towards the market, in the form of an immensely active mass of bloggers including their CEO.

And

They apparently have no qualms about

1. IPR
2. Legal issues
3. Mixed Marketing Messages
4. Competitors getting an insight on the stuff you're working on

which quite frankly surprised me. So I asked and it turns out, they have rules. They appear to be rather common sense but after some review don't really help (me), especially on points 3. and 4. My feeling is just that today, the basic assumption at Sun's, "you are encouraged to tell the world about your work", does not hold true here at ALcatel-Lucent.

But maybe I'm wrong. We'll see and I promise I'll be good, Ben.

Update: Our CEO, as well.

Blog Block

Problem: my drafts section at Blogger is (almost) larger than the actual posted items (ok, an exagerration).

Solution: none. You will not get unfinished borking. You will get the best bork I can manage.

Reality: I will get the best bork I can manage. Sometimes, drafts are best kept somewhere safe. Autosafe.

Chinese Relativity Axiom 2.0

To copy a painting really well, you need to be a good painter, versed in the art. Hence, most art copycats specialize in one artist. Margins are huge. Occasionally, you become very rich.

To copy a recent CD/DVD really well, all you need is a good PC, with a state-of-the-art ripper. To make a decent buck, you invest in mass-replication hardware. Margins as slim. Occasionally, you can make a decent living (in China, anyway).

To copy a freely available scientific publication, and put your own name to it, you just have to be stupid - I guess. It will not make you rich. It will make you infamous.

For those of you that have have some time and can access the full papers, just go ahead and compare

1. Optics Express
* http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?id=86218
2. Journal of Physics
* http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1742-6596/48/1/004


If not, just read the first and compare it to the abstract of the second. Notice anything? "Pu" indeed. So:

No matter how great your triumph or how tragic your defeat, there's a finite chance that one out of one billion Chinese will copy it without a second thought.

P.S. Meanwhile, the Institute of Physics has done the right thing (tm).

Draw me a war

The item that ticked me off has been floating around the blogosphere for a quite a while already (I picked it up @ Daring Fireball), but it is still bothering me. Badly.

The question I would like to address is : "Have they gone completely bonkers!?!?". They referring to the citizens of that greatest nation on earth .

Of course, Texas may be an isolated hotbed of silliness, but I doubt it. You see, they have tried to forbid Fahrenheit 451 as appropriate reading material for high school students. All because of a complaint by someone that hasn't even (he admits) read the book. The irony is goddamn' beautiful.

Now, that very irony has been discussed in several places and the idiocy been exposed in most eloquent ways. What bothered me even more was the snippet halfway through (sorry, the original content is no longer available for free, but the google cache is still available) when other banned books were discussed. One of them being:

"NCISD banned "Draw Me a Star" by Eric Carle and "Absolute Power" by David Baldacci, but it has not received a book challenge in three years, Cindee Reynolds, NCISD superintendent/community relations executive assistant, stated in an e-mail to The Courier."

Let me show you this evil book:



I must be a horrible parent, I have read that very book to my children several times. And I cannot think of a single reason why it should be forbidden. Nor can understand that this was not front page news - I guess you get used to stuff like this when you live in the States. Go get it at a local library (a become a patron while you're at it!) - it has been translated into a number of languages. Then, join me in my passionate plea to the NCIS:

STOP IT, YOU SILLY BUGGERS !

Epsilon/Delta

I am finally more or less settled in. The past two weeks were filled with getting to know a lot of nice new people, taking care of 1001 administrative formalities, initiating the study of the new field I'll be working in, taking initiation courses and having panic attacks.

It is said that change can be like a breath of fresh air. Don't get me wrong, I like fresh air - but at the moment I am feeling like a lifelong inner-city dweller tied to the front of an ocean liner in the middle of the Atlantic/Pacific. I am not in want of fresh air, let me assure you. And the salty brine bites, man.

All hyperbole aside, are there real differences between academia and Alcatelia? Was I working in an ivory tower before? Is there a reason why I cannot get to the point and start giving answers instead of questions ? Taking my cue from basic physics, I will try and organize the changes by

• defining time
  
• defining space
  
• giving the axioms/postulates
  
• describing the state of the system
  
• describing the theoretical/experimental tools
  

Time

There were a number of reasons was one reason why I was not looking forward to my new job: the perceived loss of flexibility and freedom to plan my own time. You see, we work with a (gasp) clock system. You clock in and ... you clock out. And there is no way in or out of the building without going through the gates for which you need your RFID badge. Every minute less than 510 a day eats into your holiday time (10200 minutes). Every minute over 45 for your lunch break eats into your holiday time. Sounds terrible, no? 45 minutes for your lunch, including coffee!? This must be one of the lower circles of Hell.

But in practice, things are much less worse. Tele/Homeworking is actively promoted and supported through the availibity of a personal laptop (no, not Apple) with all necessary trimmings, a VPN connection and refunding of your cable/DSL access cost. And you can of course save up every minute you stay longer to leave early when needed, or to take an extra day off. You see, there is this silly clocking system, but you can start at any time before 10:00, and leave from 15:30 onward. And I have almost one hour overtime just after two weeks. Time will not be a problem.

Space

To return to the coffee after lunch remark, luckily there are semi-decent coffee-machines on every floor, serving everything from expresso to some soup-like concoction. So you can have your latte at your desk. Except that it is not your desk. The official term for this lack of private space is Open/Shared Office and it is supposed to promote team work and flexibility. You come in, in the morning, and sit down at either a free

• open desk (theory: promotes team interaction)
  
• grouped semi-shielded desk (theory: promotes one-on-one interaction)
  
• shielded desk (theory: for those focussed-leave-me-alone sessions)
  
• or you can always move to a number of meeting rooms if you need to shout at a colleague.
  

You plug in your portable, connect a free 19" screen to have some extra real-estate and log into the VoIP phone system (hey, if Alcatel cannot pull it off, who can?) so your callers can find you and there you go.

Oh, did I mention the clean desk policy? (I can see you smiling, cut it out) In the evening, the desk has to be empty and clean again - and I was worrying about the clock...

To be continued.