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Deep Impact!
NASA's space probe finally hit comet Tempel 1 ... talk about a Deep Impact! "This mission is truly a smashing success," said Andy Dantzler, director of the solar system division for NASA. Why the excitement? Well, for one thing, this is just awesome! And a little secret ... my name was among thousands on board the probe, as noted in this certificate. Cool, huh? Yeah, no kidding, I've been waiting for this day. 
Posted by Ba on Wednesday 06 July 2005 - 02:09:49
Add/Read Comments: 1|
Reflection: Oracle, PwC, IBM, Oracle (again)
It's been 3 months since I left the Big Blue and returned to Oracle. The 2 questions that I'm asked quite often whenever I meet my firends, or get re-acquainted with colleagues are: Why did I leave IBM? How's life now that I'm back at Oracle?
I was fortunate that I got into a project immediately upon my return. The irony was I felt I had 3 years of knowledge to catch up with only 3 days to do it. That of course wasn't true. However, I've had to cover more grounds in terms of diversity in the areas of Oracle Applications product knowledge in 3 months with Oracle than in 3 years with the Big Blue. That's just the way it is, sometimes.
Now that my project work is done, I can reflect upon the 2 questions. It's academic, but I actually left Oracle for PwC's consulting organization 5+ years ago. I remember shortly after joining PwC, I was invited to attend a business social function, kind of a "meet your leaders" event. To be honest, I've never been comfortable with that sort of thing. But since it was a new beginning, I reluctantly went. During the "social hour", there was this very professional, yet amicable man who came right to me, offered his handshake and said "Hi, I'm Tom O'Neill" ... and just like that, he started a conversation with me. He asked me about my work, and really showed interest in what I did. When I told him I'd just joined the firm, he extended his warm welcome. I think I'm reasonably good in judgment of character, and I mean, this guy was sincere. When I found out who he was, I said to myself, "wow, this is my leader, this is where I want to be". Later, I told a friend about my meeting with O'Neill. My friend is a self-employed chartered accountant who qualified from Price Waterhouse before the merger with Coopers & Lybrand. He raised his voice and said "you shaked hands with Tom O'Neill? I spent 10 years at PW and I've never shaked hands with Tom O'Neill!". He was teasing, of course. Well, a few years later, PwC would sell the consulting business to IBM and the rest as they say, is history.
Perhaps for me it wasn't a question of leaving IBM, rather it was to find a place where I belong. I'd say it's very unlikely the kind of meeting, however brief, I had with O'Neill, would ever happen at IBM. Of course, I couldn't expect things to be the same. I wasn't getting younger, so after 2+ years with IBM, I wasn't sure if I had the patience for the new organization to evolve. And I didn't want to be serial #091nnn. That's right, you get a serial # when you're a Big Blue employee. PwC is a people oriented organization. They really mean it when they say "People matter". This is not to say that IBM is not a good company. It is. And I can't really say that Oracle is a better company than IBM. All I can say is, Oracle is a better place for me. Once I removed the PwC people factor, my sense of belonging shifted. Ultimately, I suppose PwC was not meant to be, and Oracle is where I belong.
Life at Oracle has been good so far, certainly manageable. There's an overwhelming knowledge base on Oracle products and technology internally at Oracle that I couldn't get elsewhere. I still have much to catch up, and this is just the beginning. There's no guarantee in life, and I'm not looking for any. May be, just may be, I'll run into another leader like O'Neill. We'll see.
Posted by Ba on Sunday 19 June 2005 - 18:36:02
Overhaul done!
Well, it's in the early hours, I know. But what the heck. Jumping the gun sooner than I thought. If you haven't been here for a while, I've reorganized the site. There could be a few minor problems, as I've just updated the content management system to run this site. More to say later.
Posted by Ba on Saturday 18 June 2005 - 03:56:49
Major changes are coming ...
This site will be given a "face-lift" in the near future. In fact, a change of direction. When I started this site, the purpose was to give my family and friends (and their family and friends) a "place" to keep in touch over the internet. I've come to the conclusion that people I know personally, aren't keen on this idea. Oh, they visit the site alright, I know that. But to chat and post in the forum just isn't their thing. They prefer emails and phone calls. Hey, that's just fine by me.
I've already created another gallery site for family and friends. So I'm going to "strip" pretty much the rest of the stuff (like forum, games, music, etc.) from this site. When all is said and done, it'll be more like my blog site. I guess it's a way to post some news etc. And a place I can write anything that I want, except work. Yeah, I hate putting disclaimer like "views and opinions expressed here are my own, blah, blah, blah ...". 
... of course they're my own!
Barring a last minute change of heart, I'll allow anonymous posting of chats and comments. So, no one really needs to "sign up" so to speak. But the existing membership will stay, just in case. Anyway, stay tuned ...
Posted by Ba on Thursday 16 June 2005 - 17:33:27
Photo Gallery
I've created a new website to host a photo gallery for family and friends. The new gallery site uses a new (standalone) version of Coppermine Gallery. By running the new version on another site, you get more features including visitor's choice of language and theme. You need a user account to create your personal albums. The gallery site is intended for family and friends, so user accounts are not open for public subscription. However, if you know someone who knows me, I'd be glad to create a user account for you upon request.
I haven't decided what to do with the photo gallery at this site yet, but it'd probably be removed eventually. I've copied most of the photo albums to the new site here.
Posted by Ba on Sunday 29 May 2005 - 00:21:45
