There are two things that I have learned as an IT person over the years that haven’t changed. The first is the System View, by Donella Meadows. Tragically her life was cut short, but her concept remains one of the top IT views ever. Simply put all things are a system; there are inputs and outputs. Airconditioning systems, bathtubs, and technologies are all system. Every system has inputs, processes, and outputs. I still to this day use this simple view of technology when approaching something new. The other technology system I use still is the OODA Loops by John Boyd. Boyd’s view of the world more of a holistic view above what the system view would be. Observe, Orient, Decide Act.
Both of these tools remain in my toolbelt. The rest of the tools have changed over the years. Experience teaches us that over time, things change. There was a time when I considered UML the easiest way to present software and software solutions to other people. There was a time when I thought about using other systems. I have used DODAF, Zachman, and many other frameworks. It is all about creating a common language so that the software architect and the end user are better able to understand. The concept that architects start with is that of requirements. What is it people want the system to do. From there, we layer on user cases. Use cases are interesting but dangerous.
You can never cover all the possible use cases for a software solution. One of the things was always trying to understand the variability in the technology around the solution. There are five versions of windows right now — 7,8, 8.1, 10, and 10-second edition. There are at least 12 different versions of Linux desktops, and currently, there are at least 5 MacOS versions. Add to that that every single machine can have as many as nine different browsers and you see use cases that are comprehensive are not possible. There are always things you don’t understand, and worse, there are always things that get missed. I think for me, that is one of the reasons that Donella’s system view and John Boyd’s OODA Loops have stuck with me. They are flexible answers to a question that can be very confusing at times.
Funny what sticks with you throughout a career!
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Question of
Do you have a system you always use?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you sometimes wonder why things don’t work the way you think they shuold?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Will you share the most frustrating technology for you in the comments?
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Yes
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No
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Well I don’t have a lot of knowledge about technology but I think I would use what I understand.
I think that is a great way to approach it! I am the same way with art. I like what I understand!
I used to use an app called ghost to snapshot my drives. but it wasn’t developed for SATA drives and runs in a DOS environment, so it can’t see NTFS partitions
As you can imagine, it is a real pain in the ass to get it to run on a modern system
I remember ghost (from Symantec right?). I used it all the time.
We (the IT department of the company I was working with) wanted to create a single gold image of desktop software. We will early adopters of Windows XP.
Our project failed miserably. All it took was two different orders of laptops to kill our single gold image project.
yeah, one image to rule them all is just naivety in a company large enough to have a full time IT department…
You can get close (three) for Windows 10.
You might be able to get down to two.
The other day I had an issue at work. The IT person offered to wipe my machine.
I looked at him and said “that isn’t trouble shooting” He smiled and said yes, but that is what we are told to do.
it is faster and therefore cheaper than actual troubleshooting
I just glared, said log me in with your admin ID. fixed the problem and walked out.
He would have still been imaging by the time I was back at my desk!
okay, but that guy had a fraction of the training you have and is probably making close to minimum wage. you know this policy was driven by the CFO, not the CTO…
Fair, and most likely true.
But, you also have to do one thing as a human being.
Ask first!!!!!
you’re right, but can you honestly say the new policy surprises you? dumbing down is the american way
I would lean towards the middle on that one. We cover more complex topics in school at an earlier age now, then was done 25 years ago.
I think it is more speed of solution rather than purely dumbing down.
still waiting for them to teach critical thinking in grade school
We can’t do that, too many voters would stop voting!
they already have stopped. and with a two party system and an electoral college, who can blame them?
at this point more than 50% of the overall eligible voters actually voted in 2016.
still a lousy turnout, when you think about it. and 2016 was a very charged election
It was and it wasn’t. I keep telling people 2016 was about the old guard fighting. (old guard politics, and old guard weathly) the people disengaged way too early,
agreed. they want one last chance to screw everything up before they lose the majority
It is time we voice our concerns. I think the world needs to have a serious conversation about what the goals are for countries, economies and the environment as a global entity.
the EU seems like they take it seriously…
The EU is one of the most interesting economic failures of the 20th century.
It did not create the economic powerhouse it was supposed to.
I’ve had a lot of problems with my laptops. The worst thing happened to me when the disc was destroyed (I did not have a laptop for a year). I lost a lot of data, pictures ….
That happened to me many years ago. I lost 2000 pictures that I have some copies of (physical prints that we scanned) but for the most part gone forever.
I learned something from this experience. Now I immediately transfer the images and the rest to the USB key ?
That is very important. Just remember the USB has a five-year life! I usually keep two copies that way one is always safe (actually i have 5 copies but i am a little over cautious!
Thank you very much for the information. I did not know that USB has only five years of life.
It is a problem (dust) for the connectors. All it takes is one static shock and they are gone.
The worst thing about a system is the user! And especially this user who does not know what he wants from the system.
This applies to all systems.
That is a really good point thank you!
I’m probably going to get rid of the funny guy but I really did not understand the post … and do not mind, dear friend … all those abbreviations are unknown for me
my apologies, I should explain the acroyms.
Sorry
You do not have to apologize, my dear friend … it’s not your fault if I’m stupid
I do not believe that about you. You have taught me many things. I suspect it is a more techy post, it probably loses more readers because of that.
It’s really hard for me personally, but I still read it with pleasure … I try to understand if I do not understand
My gut is English is not your first language. I suspect you are too hard on yourself. It is also ok to simply say, it is not my cup of tea!
I respect your efforts, dear friend
I think as a writer, we all wish to connect to readers!
Is not that basically our own is a collection of systems that are living in various systems, but when we talk about a specific system, it seems that only observers or serious users who know the weaknesses or shortcomings of a system, like you who master technology…
For me, something that is sometimes annoying is like PowerPoint cannot be precise when a form, like a square for an example, is copied and pasted many times to be arranged in a pattern. You certainly can’t arrange neat square “floors” from a square that is copied repeatedly.
ah you are going even higher up the stack. Donella calls that a system of systems. Humans are complex systems of systems.
Windows was a nightmare. The frozen screen. The system would lock with no warning, and nothing to do but take it to the computer hospital, time after time after time. I got so frustrated before switching over to Safari. I will never go back.
it is truly about what works for you! I am glad you found a computer that works for yoU!!!!
Yes and I could not be happier.
That is the most important thing of all!!!!!