Making Way for 2010
Sometimes it is just the little changes that can make everything feel like a completely new experience. While 2009 was a rough year I ended up with the opportunity to keep my current job at my current company in my current field. Standing here now just a few weeks into 2010 I can see how things are different than they were this time last year. Early 2009 saw this site get its current look and feel, using optimized templates and faster file loads for better page rendering. That work was done following the New Year holiday from Ozark, MO. where the temperatures were in the 60s and the sun was shinning. There may not have been enough updates in this cyberspace location in the past year but the changes that started the year ended up not returning again until the end of the year.
For starters, Security Console still had its beta status as we tried to roll it out to various client sites. The early part of 2009 saw the completion of the task of identifying overlooked issues and getting them addressed. Finally in summer of 2009 Security Console was officially released and handed off to maintenance work. Security Console is the framework that implements a full PKI data security system and allows applications to be built into that framework to perform specific tasks. With Security Console came the releases of SecretAgent (workflow security) version 6 and SpyProof (personal data security) version 2. 2009 then saw the beginning of work on Security Console 2.0, but that is another story.
Even with a long overdue release of software 2009 was getting dull. Changes to mix things up didn't really start to come until late in the year. How late? These changes were competing with work to put up the holiday decorations and get an early jump on the Christmas shopping season. The weekend prior to the 4 day Thanksgiving break was when I made jump and converted my home development computer from Windows XP 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit (version 6.1 mind you). Two weeks prior is when the prep work started by moving every file and application used to my notebook computer (also XP) and Thanksgiving weekend itself is when I would say the move to 7 was complete. I used this time to install an even bigger hard drive so in the event Windows 7 turned out not to be a smart migration, a simple hard drive swap back to the original would restore everything back to XP.
The change went so well that in early December I performed a similar migration of my work PC. The difference there though is that our software will still need to work on XP. There are two reasons for that, first XP is the OS used on netbooks, and second some of our larger clients have plans on keeping XP is the primary operating system, some clients say for as long as the next 10 years. Here I had the extra fun step of converting my XP machine to a virtual machine so I can continue to access it after the Windows 7 conversion. Everything I do is on the computer since I absolutely hate paperwork and the features of 7, specifically in easing the ability to multi-task, actually makes my life easier. I'm not always a fan on Microsoft because they have, as a developer, many times caused me a great deal of grief. When it comes to 7 though, I have to give them props.
New portals into my world aren't the only changes. Old school communication is different in the one year time period. A crappy cordless multi hand set phone system by Motorola continued to fail and cast doubt in my mind if Motorola could ever produce a good device again. In the summer I replaced that system with our Panasonic cordless multi hand set system. The new system comes with a feature called talking caller ID which at first didn't impress me when I read the product description but after having the phone tell me who is calling before I decide if I need to run to the phone to answer is a great benefit.
Shortly after my LG VX8350 wireless phone broke. Now I had phones were internal components started to fail making phone calls unclear while the camera and other perks still worked, but this is the first time where everything worked but the plastic case failed. I'm a sucker for a flip phone and the hinge to flip the phone open cracked open essentially allowing the half with the screen and ear piece to detach from the unit. That was replaced with an Alias 2 by Samsung which having both a flip phone and a QWERTY keyboard phone rocks!
The biggest change though is the phone at the office. My employer wised up and realized the biggest winning move to improving quality and reducing expenses is to tell AT&T bye-bye. Our new system is going VoIP and gives us some really cool benefits. First I get my top secret direct line so clients can contact me directly. But the best feature is the voice mail system that will e-mail me an mp3 of the message making it easier for me to keep in touch with people while working from home.
Finally there are the workspaces. This year after New Years I wasn't redoing my web site but instead re-organizing my desk at home. It is amazing how simply flipping things around gave me more surface area to work and even created a work area for my wife to set up her notebook computer. It also turns out that my home desk isn't the only change. Before the month of January is up I will be one of the people shutting down our Deerfield office. The President of our company will be moving his office entirely to his home so his fancy desk (as in the company paid so much money for it they will never see a return if they were to sell it) will become mine.
So here now is the start of my own personal New Years goals given the title Project 2010 and the year opens with new operating systems, new work spaces and cool new phones all to help get stuff done and keep in contact while doing so. Mentally that is enough changes to have me feeling like I am starting a new job going forward with new projects, a feeling I enjoy. The reality though is that it isn't a brand new, but just some tweaks along the way to keep things fresh. In any case, it puts me in a great mind set to take my ambitions over the edge.
