Wednesday, December 16. 2009
How pathetic
As opposed to my usual, almost incessant need to rant with the wrath of the English Language as my punching glove, I can only look upon news like this as backward thinking, socialism on its head where it's not by the people, for the people anymore but rather 'to the people' - transforming to a totalitarian regime of sorts.
And who better than to serve the people as the metaphorical 'Mary Poppins' than Stephen Conroy, our minister for the Digital World. Even before Labor was elected, the head case basket that was Mark Latham during his 'tell all' interview with Andrew Denton, while crying crocodile tears about the "Party that was", had already given us a sneak preview about the man waiting in the wings.
But the day will come Stephen (Icarus) when you will fly to close to the Sun.
And ISP filtering will hopefully be that Sun, that sees you fall.
It seems to me that simply calling it 'knee jerk reaction' has the same sense and clout of meaning as calling someone 'gay' on the internet - it's gone beyond a cliche and the meaning of the word begins to dribble in a pool of its own blood.
Clearly any Homosapien with a conscience will not need to be explained why the most deplorable acts in the name of morality like child rape, beastiality, sexual violence and explicit details in illegal activities are wrong - we wouldn't have come this far as a species if this were not the case.
But at what point does a 'moral truth' cross the road with 'freedom to choose' or to 'protect'. It would seem to me whatever is feasibly possible in working. Stephen says;
"The report into the pilot trial of ISP-level filtering demonstrates that blocking RC-rated material can be done with 100% accuracy and negligible impact on internet speed"
- 100% accuracy you say?
- No impact on speed?
Never mind the problem of scalability should this forbidden tree of sin grow?
Never mind the numerous re-directs and mutliple DNS paths to keep these sickos from going
Never mind what can be done from an end user perspective - oh, VPN tunneling for instance.
What happened to the responsibility in Parents and communities guiding their children in the 21st century with support and reason instead of hopelessly wrapping them up in digital cotton wool funded by a state commisioned net-nanny? Further, where does it end in terms of what the Government thinks is 'acceptable'
Pandora Box situation.
Thank you Stephen.
Thursday, September 17. 2009
I fully comprehend the fact that when it comes to expressing concepts, a point of view or even a simple fact that I can be fairly forthcoming at the best of times and something to the equivalent of beating (ok, possibly destroying) the proverbial bush to a pulp at the 'not so best' of times. However;
- Any civil discourse between two parties should only focus on the matter at hand.
- Any evidence provided, be argued solely to represent and confirm whatever needs to be resolved.
- That character assassination is a last resort option when all evidence and reason has been left to rot in the pool of one's own stupidity(On the flipside, when you are resorted to doing this, you have to "Be careful your own character does not commit suicide first" as the wonderful wordsmith Christopher Hitchens once said).
Any rational human being would take the points above and provide the usual "Thank you Captain Obvious" response, but I wonder sometimes exactly if they understand what they're saying.
Case in point: Customer Service, or rather, the definition.
Perhaps the bias of looking at an industry from the side of a supplier will flow like a river of rage, every word typed a wave of indifference to the 'average Joe', to the customer that "Pays for my Wages" as one person kindly phrased it. I think it's the definition that lacks real understanding here.
Given that a company whose prime motivation is to provide a service(s) to the public at realsitic levels of affordability and more importantly, conveys that ethos in the products and pricing offering is worth a great deal more than people wish(care?) to realise. Any reasonable person who can complete an exercise in 'Google Research' can quickly develop a sense of quality and cost equations for the type of service they want and more importantly, who can offer it.
So it's little wonder when certain customers, just because they're customers, think that along with the services they are receiving for which the associated costs comparatively are low, that they are somehow automatically equipped with the hide to decide when they can or when they can not be charged - and how much! When something should fixed! And how it is to be done. As if we're too stupid to ascertain these for ourselves. One of the things I loathe about the 'Customer Service' definition, is that it is filled with an epoche of eternal praise and thanks to the very people who have most likely prayed for the kind of services we provide. If that oxymoron hasn't already beaten you in the face, the default addition is no matter the circumstances 'They are always right' - What crap.
And what pray tell is the response when you kindly advise of the newly found and totally aquired responsibility to the customer? That it could be their fault?
"I'm offended!"
Really?
Every time I wake up to the beams of light that penetrate my dusty curtains to watch/read/listen some sick as f$$$ criminal let off in court.
I'm offended.
Every time I have to hear stories of outright injustice, how people in the same country I live and breathe in can't afford basic education/housing/etc.
I'm offended.
Every time my fellow mammalian primates(human beings) knock on my door and have the right to tell me what do and think based on ancient fairy tales constructed to promote the credulity of civilization in the name of their celestial dictator.
I'm offended.
But I'm even more offended when people who have no idea what they're talking about, think that because they've been given the grand title of 'customer' that they can somehow dispell all notions of reason and common sense.
I think the world would be a much better place if people took responsibility for what they did. Infact, I think the first step in truly emancipating ourselves if we want to even fathom, let alone see a future worth living for is to be rid of this retarded term called 'Offensive'
Friday, September 11. 2009
Yesterday evening I had the immense joy and pleasure of seeing very good friends of mine that I had lost contact with in the whirlwind of working life for going on about a year now.
Even though a lot of the carnage left behind from this whirlwind was my own doing, last night had further reinforced the benefit of social interactivity and the importance of 'keeping up to date' with the lives of people you care about. Facebook updates alone simply won't suffice.
Hobbies and Occupation are the natural springboard to any conversation and it was very interesting to listen to the thoughts that people had with respect to ISPs, in particular about Telecommunications in Australia. Mainly;
- That the NBN(NBN2, enter trivial acronym that Ruddy/Conroy conceive) is "Pie in the Sky" as an astute friend called it.
- That unfortunately, Exetel was virtually non-existent to the majority of my friends, most of whom are quite capable technically and at the very least have some idea of the nature of providing internet services.
- That Australia is a long way behind many European/Asian countries in regards to broadband access and speed.
It was deliciously ironic that in general my friends had conceded that the NBN proposal by Ruddy was already teetering on the edge of fantasy, with one foot already entering the doorway of nonsense but would still vote for him in the next Election(Clearly likeable still to many). What other conclusion could a sensible person come up with when the words "$42 billion"and "10 year plan" are spoken within the same breath other than mass skepticsm considering those skeptics are people who know next to nothing about Telecomms - of course, as John L would say, this would also apply to the people who actually came up with the proposal in the first place - zing.
As somebody who works day in, day out in 'ISPland' it is also interesting to see what the average person knows about what's available out there - mainly Telstra and Optus it seems. While Exetel's (so far as I know anyway) target in regards to knowledgable I.T experts who can spread the word (which has clearly worked for years so far), the next echelon, the final frontier as it were is to somehow penetrate to the populace at large. Perhaps this is my naievity speaking from the mind of 'Mid 20s Generation Y pop-tart', but I would have thought given a customer base, amassing in total in the order of 80,000 odd that somebody would have known us off hand, or at the very least in deep thought.
Not the case, aside from one of my friends who only knew because I work for Exetel. While I never understood the term applied to a company of 80,000 odd customers as 'a drop in the ocean' I can see, perhaps in a 'household' name sense, or indeed from the point of view of what we have to compete with as this being the case. It's both exciting and disappointing at the same time but nonetheless interesting.
I should make Thursday night drinks a much more regular activity in my repertoire.
Finally, it should be remembered that on this day a mere 8 years ago, an atrocious act in an attempt to destroy civilization by theocratic zealots in the name of religious biggotry cost the lives of many hundreds of men and women.
And while this has never been the first, or unfortunately probably won't be the last of such kind of attacks against humanity it is important to realise now more than ever as we march into the 21st century with technological vigor, having won for ourselves many battles against superstition, biggotry and credulity that civilization must continue to strive for truth - mainly with science and reason as its formidable weapons against those who wish to destroy it.
Friday, April 24. 2009
Greetings,
As I metaphorically dust off the old dancing shoes (again) in regards to attempting to coherently convey my thoughts on the world of today - there are a few serious projects that are on the verge of completion.
The pondering as to whether my theory on how to best relay these new products to our customers won't be answered just yet. Time will be the unbiased judge of that. Until then I can only ponder and speculate as to how smooth this will be.
What I'm talking about is 'PSTN to VOIP' and not purely in terms of the product itself, but how it is actually acquired through the products we already have. A process I am hoping to work.
I sure am glad it's Friday today.
TODAY'S FUNNY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypLGCv5fyYk (I've probably opened a can of worms but screw it - it is friday and this should be seen)
Tuesday, June 3. 2008
Been a long time coming actually,
Over the course of the many months, I have been, in addition to the numerous and overwhelming amount of current day to day things, have been implementing radical changes in processes to effect how the overall departments perform.
I suppose if you were to find 'electronic efficiency' as a recipe in a cookbook the ingredients would read to something as follows;
- Two Cups of patience
- A Dozen parts of 'competence'
- A Dallop of Persistence
- and a pinch of luck
I am lucky, given that in the environment I am set in, enables me to exercise a great deal of control and just as importantly, an equal amount of 'structural change' via direct access to an in house development team of the highest caliber.
The advantages are just too many, and in addition you're able to customize what you need with the finest of touches.
Even then, it amazes me how 'long' it takes - during these kinds of conditions to get these of some magnitude complete. It makes you think for multi billion dollar businesses how anything is managed to get done given the ridiculous set of parameters in order to accomplish something. Let me give you an example from a project plan I received some weeks ago(generically speaking of course);
*Sales designs rate plans; - 10 days.
*Commercial performs a pricing analysis of the plans and advise Marketing & Sales; - 5 days.
*Marketing compile sign off pack and circulate for sign-off; - 5 days
Now I'm no mathematician;
But...
From what I can see here, 20 days would have to expire JUST to get the required rates for approval and notification.
I just don't understand it. Perhaps it could be the environment I am in (an ever growing but in the grand scheme of things, minor-sized company) but I would be at my wits end, knowing these kind of practices still exist. I once asked a very wise man;
"Is it just the nature of any company that reaches epic-scale proportions to effectively become a slow lingering behemoth?"
"No" Was his firm reply.
So then what is it? Is it the people? The processes? The product?
Perhaps a mixture of all three. But what really hits hard, is when minor, much speedier and efficient groups are forced to lag at the pace of the big boys - especially true in the Telco industry. It defeats one of the key and crucial advantages of a company at this size, in addition to the cost saving being SPEED. The ability to change, adapt and supply services like the falling leaf in the wind.
Maybe I'll give them my recipe book sometime
Friday, May 16. 2008
I'm an at unusual point after managing the provisioning and processes of all our ADSL and Corporate ADSL/SHDSL customers for over 7 months now. This and in addition to ensuring the integrity of our trans-operational platforms between different systems means I'm a busy bee.
But sometimes the sheer nature of the complexities that is managing the operational/functions side of systems means you can get caught up in it. Demanding the 'perfect' integration of providing services and capturing all the problems in a nice, neat little basket.
Case in point - I was alerted as the number #1 cause of refunds from the Finance team was due to incorrect qualification of orders that 'appeared' OK for service, but turned out that the infrastructure simply wasn't possible to provide one.
Result - Transactions already being debited, customers receiving hardware they shouldn't have, complaints, extra provisioning work to handle the inquiry.
I had a meeting with one of our Telstra Account managers and operations manager which highlighted this issue.
Could Telstra change their process to better suit Exetel's needs? - Bloody unlikely! (I don't know who said this, I guess I'll find the appropriate author later)
So, the course of action was to tackle how these came about. Ah! your classic sub-exchange, RIM culprits.
Telstra have a list of exchanges, including sub-exchanges and RIMs with number allocations! - OK! We could devise something here. My mind quickly goes into overdrive as to possible ways of having this done. We could have the development team implement a process, submit this list, have the DB check of exchanges - if they match, POW! But ah wait...it doesn't show what PARTICULAR sub-exchanges or RIMS...problems.
In fear of skewing my thoughts off on some gargantuan tangent of doom - I decided to look back at what we do now. What's currently happening?!
Appointment date fields are populated..ok....
Telstra held dates are populated..ok......
But wait - We have a status check for these... perhaps maybe the big 'T' takes an eternity and back again to advise. Let's check the LOLO and B2B logs..
answer? - 4 hour notification between submission and Held notice.
WOW - light bulb moment.
The process to figure this out was there all along. By simply making precedence to held dates over writing activation dates, we stop the wheels in motion that would otherwise lead to perpetual doom.
A quick scope to the lead programmer and implementation done within a matter of minutes,changing no less than 1-5 lines of code changed/added.
1-5 lines of codes translates to;
- reducing thousands of dollars per month for unnecessary transactions
- informing customers quicker of status changes
- less time and money for multiple departments as this flow on effect is stopped dead
- No changes to how current systems work - including my own and other departments
And the answer was there, hidden away.
So if the Acronym didn't immediately ring alarm bells as to the nature of this entry, it's the age old principle of K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Stupid. It really is amazing how easily and how accurate this works, not to mention the time and effort saved on all fronts.
Wednesday, April 30. 2008
OK, I'm guilty. I admit it.
Can you please stop with the incessant name calling and nagging 'told you so' attitude?
It's been some time since my last update, and I suppose I'm in a mood that is bordering on focus and frustration. Let me give you a breif update onto SOME of what has been achieved since my last blog entry(I'll spare the overwhelming point by point description as I'd be typing till the crack of dawn)
- Introduction and successful streamlined ability of a new product; naked ADSL2 service
- Trials and implementation of ADSL2 transfers via AAPT/Powertel
- The 'official' ending of residential grade AAPT/Powertel services after the previous point addressed issues which were still not fixed and costing time and money
- Complete take over and control of Corporate Provisioning
- Making 5 fundamental process changes in corporate provisioning that assist with efficiency and accuracy
- Grand totaling of 4 staff members (2 of which have moved to other areas, another 2 moving in)
- Mobile activations
- SMS implementation of updates on orders
Meandering along I suppose..not to mention the current 4 development projects to better automate current systems and the constant reviewing and monitoring on key areas makes for an exciting day..days...life, I suppose life is a better term.
I was actually thinking about what else I could improve as I enjoyed a Sunday easter(Greek easter last weekend folks) meal with my family.
'Re-inventing the wheel' is a term that is so misused and overstated when it comes to putting something in place that can really benefit everybody(customer->company->supplier).What a lot of people seem to forget is that in order to re-invent the wheel, you better damn sure know how the wheel is working, less you be struck another overused yet highly amusing term: 'If his brains were dynamite, he couldn’t blow his nose.'
A dangerous path to follow.
Anyway, I have little time to write a meaningful philosophically tangible blog as I'm just too consumed by day to day tasks of what needs to be done.
Perhaps that's a good thing?
Tuesday, November 6. 2007
This is more of a feel good post.
I guess after what I could only describe to the best of my linguistic ability as a "bleh" monday, over the course of the past couple of weeks I am having staff members understanding their day to day tasks to the point that they are now involved in projects and development tasks to help assist their work in association with the development team by auto managing remedial, rudimentary manual tasks.
In layman's terms? Having things done quicker and information of what's happening addressed as quickly as possible.
At Exetel, we always think outside the box. Or in this case, the triangle..
A lot of these (excluding of course, the actual deployment of automating the processes of delivering a product) a fairly minor for the most part once the large scale processes are put in place, but think of it like this;
- Exetel has approximately 60,000 customers, 45,000 or so with some type of ADSL1, ADSL2 Optus or ADSL2 Powertel service.
- Suppliers involved include Telstra, Optus, Powertel, Unwired,
- Each supplier has their own intricate process and systems for delivering a service which Exetel has deliver, CONSISTENTLY, 100% of the time or certainly as much as feasibly possible.
- Staff also answer provisioning enquiries over the phone
- Staff also answer helpdesk tickets
So what kind of people power are we talking about with all these issues/workloads/responsiblities?
Including myself overseeing the department you are looking at 3. That's THREE people over looking the complete activations process. The ratio speaks for itsself.
But none of this would be possible if not for two very important things;
- the insight to develop key processes to get orders through quicker, reject less, and decrease manual workload
- The outstanding technical and code development internally to interact with supplier systems as well as our own.
These things go hand in hand.
Any post about corporate productivity warrants an immediate supporting graph - and here's mine.
Just as important in my mind are the 'fail-safe' implementations that have to be reported to know when something isn't working, because let's face it, if it was truly automatic in every sense of the word, well then we could all have a trip to the Bahamas sipping on coconut milk...
And really this should be the essence of anyone working in Activations/provisioning for any product they deliver. You only need to be doing work in terms of improving what's already there and fixing what is currently there.
Thursday, November 1. 2007
EFTel will be introducing VDSL2 to at least 70 exchanges early next year. For the uninitiated, VDSL2 is essentially an extension or 'upgrade' to the current ADSL2 service in that VDSL2 is capable of speeds up to 100Mbps based on utilization of higher frequencies (above 2.2Mhz) on the copper line.
This is a double edged sword for many MANY reasons, not just from an end user point of view but from an ISP side too.
On the one hand it is good to see, from an end user's point of view, new technologies being implement in what would have to be considered a small population density such as Australia. Australia has always seemed to be mentioned, indeed at the forefront of innovation and delivering innovation to the market in certain areas, medicine you can most definitely add to the list.
The problem lies in the way this technology will be received,provisioned and managed as it grows stature.
I can tell you the same euphoria of 'internet speed goodness' came hurtling to the populace like Zeus' thunderbolt when ADSL2 was introduced and having effectively monitored the distribution, provisioning and processes of this product over 12 months I can already foresee the same underlying problems and ordeals only on an even bigger scale. Namely;
- Customer satisfaction and expectation of service.
- Supplier delivery and consistency.
- Service qualification checks
- Cost (Of which I would not have the faintest of clues)
If this isn't enough of a barrier to entry a report by Dr Paul Brooks has indicated that in addition to the already stringent distance parameter, crosstalk - a phenomena where adjacent signals can interfere with each other,distorting the signal becomes more of a concern, particularly at higher frequencies. Fortunately, there are no other technologies that are permitted to transmit at these kind of frequencies...except of course, OTHER VDSL2 SERVICES. I will be interested when competitors distribute on the same exchanges how this will be handled.
Bandwidth consumption would also be something to consider, especially how backhaul providers and the network will cope assuming these much higher speeds are met. You only have to go back to the days when broadband was introduced via UNLIMITED and genuinely UNLIMITED plans;those days are long and buried and I can only see the already strained networks become even more burdened with increasing bandwidth costs.
All these things aside, I'm most complacent about customer expectation, and to a degree I think we (we meaning the industry) exaggerate what realistically is capable. There are so many factors unbeknown to the average joe when provisioning ADSL technology that what they THOUGHT they could receive they actually DON'T get.
John has a valid point about the effects of a new high speed service, and based on ADSL2 at least, I fear I can only see this effect heightened.
Wednesday, October 31. 2007
For those living under a rock, or to be more modern - residing in a pile of cat feces in a hungry Jacks box for shelter, Nvidia have released their G92 GPU which is now dubbed the 8800GT.
The results are quite extraordinary, here we have a piece of hardware is essentially an equal to that of the original current generation's flagship model at less than HALF the price, HALF the size and almost HALF the power consumption thanks by in large to the new 65nm die, 15nm smaller than the current 8800 series model. All this for around $320 if you look hard enough.
But what about the real world tests/benchmarks? Ya fuc#in' jokin' me, it basically sits about even with a $700 GTX.
Which begs the question, WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG NVIDIA? Especially given those PC enthusiasts that spent the money on the 8800GTS, it's a bit of a kick in the face to those throttled back thinking they were buying the 2nd best card.
I wouldn't know what I'd describe it to for those who have paid for a $700 8800GTX. A knife in the back followed by a simultaneous vasectomy?
It's not unusual for Nvidia, as other reputable graphics card companies release different version of current generation cards...what IS unusual is;
- That it rivals the original flagship model
- That it was released very late in its cycle, here we were thinking about the next generation
- The price for the performance generated
It's no longer just about keeping up anymore, it's more like playing twister...with a broken leg...while running.
EDIT
- I bowed down to the irresistible price/performance package and sold my GTS for this awesome card. Gears of War is smokin...oh is it smokin!
Tuesday, October 30. 2007
As a wise person once told me, if it takes you longer than the blink of an eye to answer a question you presumably spend at a bear MINIMUM 9 hours a day, 5 days a week doing then you should ultimately pack your bags and go west...like to centrelink. Go west, Life is peaceful there..Go We- Ah, I'll stop now.
Currently, I supervise the activations and provisioning department for an ISP. Easy? Well congratulations, you're more intelligent than at least one of my friends;
"ISP What's that?" My friend bellows.
"It's an Internet Service Provider. We provide internet services." I politely infer.
"Oh OK...For Who?"
"Exetel"
"Exe- what?"
"Exetel."
"Err..Eftel, I see, I think I might seen your ad on TV"
"OK, I'm going to stop this conversation, turn around and walk away so you can think about what you've done"
"Fine! I'm using your computer and going on the net"
"Sure! OH WAIT! You have to learn to pronounce the company supplying it - NEW RULE"
.... -_-'
I am very fortunate in that I over look a whole range of services from ADSL, ADSL2, not to mention dabbing in the corporate side of things with SHDSL and Ethernet connections too. I suppose what I love about my job the most is that it is not merely making sure that the provisioning runs as smoothly as possible from an end user through to supplier and everything in between. The job also entails what I dub ' process innovation', making manual things automatic for improved efficiency, making automatic things even tighter and more fluid as well as consultation between programmers, support engineers, suppliers in creating a coherent system.
Exetel's initial logo. Crop circles don't just appear in rural country farms anymore.I wonder if Aliens have e-mail?
In my relatively small time in the industry (and still well and truly a baby in the grand scheme of things) I started the 'grind' as what most do in the ISP industry - support role answering calls. As I quickly became more fascinated by it all I began to have a look at how an ISP actually goes about delivering a service - what systems are implemented, and once this was learned more importantly, how do you go about improving them? The beauty about Exetel is that you can dabble in many aspects of the company due to the size, talent and inner workings of the company. So if you're good enough and you're motivated enough you will always have an opportunity to let your work shine through.
So what do my daily tasks involve pray tel?
- Ensure staff handle day-to-day inquiries in regards to provisioning activation, modifications, cancellations etc.
- Ensure ADSL services are going through, varying all different types of orders
- checking to make sure things aren't broke
- improving processes.
And there is still much more to go. There are more things in the works which I have to sit down with the dev team to break down. It's a challenging but rewarding experience and as an initiation into the big, bad world of I.T, grateful to have.
Current logo. Look at the X, Obey the X!!. The blue X commands respect!
That's all folks.
Monday, October 29. 2007
The recent release of Crysis has sparked another cry of Nerd outrage based on the system requirements specifications that has been provided by EA in addition to comments before its release indicating that "A single 7800GTX will run the game quite well on fairly high settings according to Crysis Art Director, Michael Khaimzon"
To a degree I can understand why. EA had essentially 'promised' a title of the highest caliber at almost a fraction of the requirements needed. Much like Jon Howard's promise on keeping interest rates at a constant low while in Government, EA too were basking under the same sun of delusion which had spread to the many eager PC gamers (Myself included). It seems that History keeps on repeating yet we are as blind to the belief of "This time it will be different!", the same sense of ignorance as those pathetic words of a battered woman defending her drunken boyfriend/Husband....before she cuts his penis off with a pair of rusty scissors. Oh you don't remember?
- Farcry
- Oblivion
- Everquest (to a degree)
One has to ask, what is it about these particular titles that cause mass hysteria over insane system specifications, causing the beefiest of systems to render it about as quick as a disabled three toed sloth......Answer;
TREES.
Forget radically complex polygons of giant Anacondas, what your PC should be fearing is bark.
What the hell is it with Trees and these kind of environments and my PC squirming in pain like it's been stabbed by some hobo with an infected needle?
Oblivion designers will tell you one thing... but I just can't believe how much research, resources and effort goes into making TREES REALISTIC.
Essentially it's not just simply rendering them via thousands of complex polygons, you have to add the right textures, lighting, transparencies, volumetric and complex shaders and the tree has to MOVE right.
This is why your behemoth PC suffers. Beware, those of wooden brethren trounce all in its path. (How in the world did they do it in Lord Of The Rings?)
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