I have decided to support them.  If you’d like more information:  Invisible Children – KONY 2012

Something that I’ve noticed lately is that finally IT governance groups are allowing multiple mobile platforms into the corporate environment, which they should.  Why should someone that is more productive on an Apple product be forced to use a RIM product, or an Android user to an Apple product?

What is interesting though, is that we are introducing new platforms into our environment without the consideration as to how they will all “play together”.  We are basically introducing Digital Diversity into our workplace.  This carries on with my thoughts of the device and the user being synonymous, in theory.

What we may end up with is groups of people in an organization that prefer to work with other users of the same products.   Effectively, Apple people with Apple people, as this shows you may be of similar likes and possibly be more productive together.  Technically, this would be similar to saying many years ago that all women should work together.

So, are we creating an age of Digital Diversity and without consideration to the possibility of Digital Discrimination?

Something to consider as we need to focus on the development of technology that works on all platforms and allows users to work with each other in a seamless collaborative manner without regards to their mobile platforms of preference.  We also have to think about organizational behaviour in our organizations as to ensure we don’t have segregation that is a result of personal technology choices.

Cheers
Aaron

It is with much anticipation that I am now less than a month away from starting my MBA in Executive Management at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC on January 2nd, 2012.

I’ve had an interesting journey through the technology with an ultimate goal over twelve years ago to move my career into the business side versus the hands on technical side.

Not that there is anything wrong at all with the technical hands on side of things.  In fact I still have a passion for technology and still even get involved with coding in C++ and developing my own website, such as this one.  However, my passion has been with leveraging technology to enable business and to become a leader in the business community.

My first opportunity was to move into Project Management while at Crystal Decision / Business Objects.  I saw this as a great opportunity as I saw a growing requirement for senior business roles to have PM experience.  On that path, I decided to back my experiences with education by gaining my PMP and PRINCE2 Practitioner certifications along with PM and Program Mng certifications from UBC.

To continue with the continuing path of education, and to meet the increasing requirements, I decided to go for my MBA.

Royal Roads was an ideal fit for me as I have a need to continue my employment and they also considered acceptance based on education and work experience.   I also knew a few people that did their MBA at RRU and it was very well endorsed.

So, it is with great excitement that I look to the near future of my educational challenges…

I’m taking the opportunity of the December holidays to start reading my recent acquired books in Accounting and Managerial Accounting, which I have actually found VERY interesting!

I’ll use my blog to update my excitement, challenges, and pain as I go along my journey… and of course, my celebration post when I complete the program!!!

Cheers
Aaron

Since the new movie came out, I decided it was too long since my last drawing and thought a Captain America theme was a good idea.  I wasn’t totally satisfied with the proportions on this one.  Just means I need to draw more often so I don’t lose the skill.

This was done on a larger size paper, too large for my scanner, so I had to use my iPhone 4 to take a picture of it.

I plan on doing a few more single character drawings as I plan on doing a full poster size next year and want to make sure I’m back in the groove enough for that project to turn out great!

This is one of my favorites.  It is done on a large size so I couldn’t scan it.  This is a picture for now using my iPhone until I can get it to a place with a larger scanner.

Who is Spiderman without MJ… I drew this in 1998 as well.

Cheers
Aaron

One of my childhood comic book favorites was Spiderman.  This was a drawing I did in 1998.

Cheers
Aaron

As time moves on so do car trends.  I look at my 1969 Super Bee and think of times when cars were sharp and aggressive… I’ll skip the 80′s and 90′s… Coming into 2000 we still had much of the rounded “jelly bean” car lines to contend with.  The biggest offender being the Mazda Miata that has a jelly bean shape and colours!

My 2001 Porsche Carerra 996 C2 was factory ordered with the Aero kit which was the same body kit as the GT3.  Although this did make the car more aggressive, it has still become very dated.  Here is a before picture.

Cars today, especially those that are “super cars”, are bringing back the sharper lines, wider bodies, and overall aggressive look mixed with some of the organic styling queues.  These complex compound shapes are now possible due to modern computerized design engineering, manufacturing, and materials available.

So after doing much investigation, I decided to go with a company called Precision Porsche to get some updated body panels.  I also decided to upgrade the front headlights to the next body style up in the 2002+ Porsche 996 cars or 2001+ Turbos.  This involves changing the front fenders, luckily since my car had the Xenon/Litronic headlights I’m able to do the swap without changing the wiring harnesses.

As I now have a chance to “mix and match” styling I like, I decided to go with:  TechArt style front bumper with larger lower lip, 2011 GT3 rear bumper, and 997 GT2 rear decklid and wing.  I also decided to change to side skirts on the rocker panels to a sharper line found on the 997 TechArt Turbo which are going to be the first ones Precision has made to fit a 996 C2.  Lastly, I’m also adding Turbo style air intake ducts with the TechARt splitter in the quarter panels.

To date, I’ve been able to install the rear bumper and decklid.  Also, I’ve changed the front fenders and installed the front bumper.  I have some more fit and finish work to do on these components but the major fitment is out of the way.

The side skirts should be shipped by the end of November and along with are some templates to cut the hole needed for the air ducts.  I’m hoping to have all the new panels fit and ready for my painter to come by and check out the work, give me a quote, have me haggle on price, and get it painted.  The paint may not happen until early next year, but it should all be finished by next Spring.

Should bring that modern super car look back into my car and in a custom way with the styling queues I like in my own sort of “creation”.  Here are some pictures of the progress so far:

Cheers
Aaron

Well as we have an expanding family and we are putting many more miles on our family mover, we decided to get something newer and on warranty as well as more economical on fuel and with some more space.

As we’re not fans at all of mini-vans, that whole idea was out.  We also didn’t want a massive full size SUV, so our options were getting limited.  After some searching on the crossover market, we came across the Mercedes R-class.  More specifically, the R350 BlueTec diesel version.

This is an interesting car concept and hard to explain.  It is a 7-seater vehicle with loads of interior space.  In fact the second row seat is much like the S-class for leg room and the rear two seats in the third row are large enough for grown adults.  It is based on the SUV M-class chassis, so it sits a little higher than the station wagon and has all-wheel drive.

In pictures, it looks a lot like a mini-van.  In person, it looks nothing like a mini-van and rather a higher station wagon.

Reviews are mixed online saying things such as that the handling is poor and the road noise is high or that is has a lot of vibration.  In my opinion, we didn’t experience any of these traits.  The car is very smooth and very quiet.   It is very comfortable and has all the luxury you’d expect from a Mercedes and the Premium Package this one has includes the large sunroof, navigation, etc, and this one was also optioned with the rear entertainment system which is good for the kids on road trips.  Actually, probably better for the parents that the kids have it on the road trips is more accurate.

We purchased the car from the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Richmond, BC.  I want to give particular shout out to John Winfield who went above and beyond to make a deal work for us and make it a great car purchase experience.  I’d highly recommend anyone that is interested in purchasing a Mercedes to ask for him to assist you in your purchase.  You won’t regret it.

Conclusion

The R-class is a people mover.  It is larger in length and height than a sedan or even station wagon, but you do get a lot of features for that space that meet the needs of people that need more space or have a growing family.

The comfort, luxury, features, etc, etc are all great things to have.  Yes you pay for them, but if you drive a lot per day having that comfort does make being stuck in traffic more bearable.

Would I recommend this car?  Yes, very much so.  It has been a joy to drive thus far and we’ve already seen the fuel savings versus our previous SUV.

I was reading an interesting article today that came out via email newletters and has also been posted in Fortune magazine that speaks to a new role definition that is being seen in the industry known as “Head of Digital Strategy”.

This role is focused on introducing digital technology into the organization that you work with into all of the teams and departments to increase efficiency and productivity of teams through technology.  It is also positioned on the “business side” as it requires the ability to influence senior businesses leadership and works closely with C-suite to define corporate objectives and how to better use digital solutions to achieve them.

It is also a very progressive type of role.

This role requires an individual to be thinking far into the future.  In fact, Steve Jobs fits this definition perfectly as he was thinking far ahead of where things can and should be rather than where they are today.  An interesting challenge I could see in this role is being able to get a company current to today but being able to influence the commitment of the senior leadership to also invest into the future and aligning corporate vision with that future or even shape it.

Seeing this new role gets me very excited as I’ve always been about aligning technology with business and also focusing on where the future will be by forgetting our current limitations.  This allows you to build and create that future and/or work with technology partners to be very leading edge in a partnership to get your company there before anyone else in the market does.

With how fast technology develops, this would be a very fast paced, challenging, exciting, and highly rewarding career.

They not online that is seems a digital background is needed.  An interesting new term as that could mean many things and isn’t qualified.  Is digital technical?  Is it software?  Is it marketing?  Seems as if that would depend on the industry in which the company your work for is in and what best suites that role.  However, I’d suggest a technical background of at least 10 years is required to fill this.

Personally I remember hacking config.sys in Windows to make games run and all the other challenges back in the day which I’ve found very valuable in how I look at technology today.  Without a long history of experience, I think one wouldn’t be suited for this role.  The sort of we know the future, or avoid mistakes, by learning from the past theory.

Additionally, I love the business buy in for an organization that supports this role.  As time moves on and ideas change, the divide between business and IT is vanishing.  Finally companies that embrace technology and show it by supporting these types of roles and individuals will find great successes in doing so and far out perform their competitors.

It also isn’t vapor either.  They note corporations like TD Bank Group, Disney, and Capital One already have these people in these roles or are actively looking for them.

Great news, and I’m going to be keeping an eye on how this role develops moving forward in our industry.

Cheers
Aaron K. Alsop, PMP