Happy Holidays!!!

Happy Holidays everybody! Just a quick note today to wish everyone all the best for the holiday season (Frank taught me that it’s better to wish people “happy holidays” since not all people who get a break this time of year are Christian! I never really thought about it – but it sure makes sense.)

I’m in Chicago with my family, staying in a nice hotel and enjoying the company, the pool, and the blues bars in the evening. We stayed in Madison for a few days after they arrived and then rented a car and came down here. It really is nice to get out a bit – and RELAX!!! Mum keeps comparing everything to Canada – which is a bit annoying sometimes, so I’ve made her watch South Park whenever it comes on! Hah hah!!! Tonight we’ll go to nice restaurant and probably go to the movies or something. It’s a different type of Christmas, but it is fun. I do miss all my family back in Italy, grandparents, cousins etc., particularly because this is one of the few times we all get together (at my grandmother’s house) and eat like maniacs and enjoy each other’s company. My grandfather plays the accordion – which takes some getting used to – but he’s really good. Anyway – it’s different, but Chicago sure is beautiful at Christmas!

So – Happy Holidays to everybody at work, at home, in the Urbino on-line course, Kate (of whom I see too little!), Marco in Ecuador, Prof. Bogliolo, the Ducato newspaper, and everybody else who has particpated in this blog!

And Happy New Year!

Bob

Telecommunications Etiquette

Fantastic! I’ve been vindicated! On page 15 of this week’s Economist there is an article about SPAM and SPIM and communications etiquette. It’s interesting as they cite the historian Matthew Sweet who notes that the telegram was initially seen as an intrusion, as well as the phone. He gives a funny example of a woman in 1903 who received a phone call while she was dressing and then, after, reflecting on the experience realised that she had just had a conversation with a man as if they had met on the street – except she was totally naked! Hah hah! It makes me think of all the times I’ve answered the phone while on the toilette! Watch out blackberry! Anyway – I thought it was interesting.

Office comm upgrades!

Aaaggh! I wrote and published this and I just saw that it didn’t load! Grrrr. Oh well, once again!

I had a great time Monday and Tuesday going to Kenosha – about 150 km from Madison toward Chicago. Frank and I went down to see the sub-contractors and “cross the t’s and dot the i’s” on the work that we all have have done and have to do. It was great to get out of town for a couple of days. We ate Bratwurst and Miller beer. Frank’s been great. He gave me a blackberry the other day – which was a mixed blessing. Actually it’s been good. I’m learning a lot. Frank has made it clear that with a team of fewer than 10 people in the office we all have to cover each other – so any problems I may have on the TELEPHONE had better disappear quickly! In fact, he makes me answer the phone all the time. “If you don’t screw up, you don’t learn!”, he says. And he’s right. I have an easy time writing, no problem, and speaking too, but understanding the million and a half accents and idiomatic expressions in this country is really hard! For example: I learned about “pancakes” – while some people call them “flapjacks” or “griddle cakes”. Who knows! What’s a flapjack? Who’s Jack?
Anyway – Kenosha was great. Frank gave me a blackberry, actually, he gave us all blackberries – so no matter where we are, we are always in contact. This is great. It means that my favorite phone sentence “I’ll get right back to you!” won’t come with the delay of having to find information back at the office. I can carry the weeks work, or at least the notes, with me all the time. Frank is petitioning to get a document controller, as we are beginning to develop a real document flow. Anyway – the blackberry is great, although it ties you to the office 24 hours a day. I suppose my laptop does too, but the laptop gets turned off, the blackberry NEVER!!! So – office teamwork efficiency is at maximum. If we get a document controller, all the better.
Kenosha was pretty nice. It’s on the coast of Lake Michigan.
My “folks” are coming this week! That will be great! I get the week and two weekends off! I think we’ll go to Chicago! I haven’t been there yet! It should be great. As well, I’ve got so many things to show my parents. They haven’t been here before. I think they’ll love it. It’s cold, but it’s cold at home too. I hear they had snow last weekend – and the mountains are all white. There aren’t any mountains around here, but the snow storms have been massive – and it’s been really cold! Hah – Mum used to make listen to a song by Randy Bachman and Neil Young called “Portage and Main” – about the winter in Winnepeg, Canada. The lyrics were “Portage and Main – 15 below – stay inside and rock ‘n’ roll”. Anyway – we should have a good time. I can’t wait to see them.

Anyhoo – if you don’t check in until after the holidays – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!

The expression of the day is “snug as a bug in a rug” – it means staying warm and cozy!

All the best to everybody!

Interviewed!

Interesting experience a few days ago. I was contacted via e-mail by a student from the Istituto per la Formazione al Giornalismo (IFG) in Urbino, who asked me a few questions about my experience here in Madison and the use of the blog for the on-line course in CLIL-Computer Science. It was a nice reminder that the blog is purposely watched. Anyway – I understand that the article was published this week. I don’t know if you can find it on their website or not, and I haven’yt read it yet. It was fun though! I’ve never been interviewed in that way before. I haven’t read it yet, but I’d like to thank Luca Santocchia for noticing our little project here! All the best to the IFG!

A FEW THOUGHTS ON EMAIL BANKRUPTCY AND SPIM

I was just having a cup of coffee in the employees’ lounge when I saw a couple of really interesting articles, one on something called “email bankruptcy” – which I had never heard of – and another dealing with something called “spim”. Now everybody knows what “spam” is, but “spim”?
I guess email bankruptcy is a 21st century kind of bankruptcy. This high-ranking CEO interviewed in the article said that he wasn’t going to answer any of the email piled up in his in box because he was so far behind in answering that he just couldn’t keep up. He sent an email to everybody on his mailing list saying; “If you aren’t my wife, partner or colleague, send me another email because I’m starting all over again.”
It must take a lot of guts to do something like that!
Another guy wrote: “Dear person who sent me an unanswered email yesterday. I apologize, but I am declaring email bankruptcy.” This sounded a little pathetic to me.
One expert answered that if you can’t handle the emails, you should get out of the technology field. Isn’t it easier to ignore emails your not interested in? That’s what I do, but I don’t get hundreds every day. Spim, on the other hand, is another bothersome consequence of modern technology but it’s not really a problem where I come from (not yet anyway). I read that it’s like the instant messaging equivalent of spam that can really threaten network security. Everybody knows the risks of spam, but spim can be just as hard to eliminate.
So now we’re going to have to deal with cheap Viagra spam and spim! Great, what’s next?
Hey, I saw some SPAM at the supermarket yesterday and found out that it’s like a really cheap, ham spread. Americans sure eat a lot of disgusting stuff! It looks like dog food. The website is really cool though – when you think about what it is! I don’t remember it off the top of my head, but you can google it.

The expression of the day is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – meaning if something already works, don’t try to modify it.