Who is correct?

I had a meeting today that got me thinking about claims of efficiency, and here was my two minute tongue in cheek web search findings, try the search yourself to be confused ;)

Dell states:
15% better performance per watt than HP
10% better performance per watt than IBM

HP states:
In a direct comparison, the HP ProLiant BL260c G5 server blade with HP Thermal Logic Technology achieved 11.7% and 43.7% better performance/watt than Dell and IBM competitors, respectively.

IBM states:
The Power 570 is more than 10% better than the HP Integrity rx8640 Server and more than double the Sun SPARC Enterprise M8000 Server in performance per WATT

Sun states:
The Sun Fire T1000 server delivers 1.3x greater performance than the 4-way IBM p5 550 with 1.9 GHz POWER5+ processors, while consuming over 4X less power and occupying 1/4 the space. The Sun Fire T1000 delivers nearly 5.5X higher performance per watt than IBM's Power 5 / AIX solution.


Okay so I know I am being facetious and none of these are apples for apples comparisons with the current best of breed from each supplier but it does highlight how challenging these claims become to validate. I am going to put apples with apples in the lab and see what the truth is, I don't think there is another way to do it.

I hope each of the suppliers will allow me to publish the findings.... we shall see...

Using Solid Metrics

This PDF contained an interesting snippet:

Using solid metrics
The most useful datacenter power-efficiency metric is the ratio of IT equipment load to total utility power:
Efficiency =IT Load/Total Facility Power
In a typical datacenter, this ratio is 0.3, meaning that only about 30 percent of the total utility draw actually powers servers. Another third of the power is used to remove the heat that servers generate. And roughly another third is consumed by power conversions in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power distribution units (PDUs), and miscellaneous power draws ranging from humidification to spot cooling systems.

Go green

Thanks to Troy for providing the links to these blogs from Sun.
And these fascinating pictures from Hitachi.

Proudly Serving My Corporate Master

Thanks to Matt Wells for the link this morning to this thoughtful Blog post: The Myth of the Lone Programmer this is now in my Feed list.... if only everyone thought like this:

"My interpretation of this is that Knuth has never had to write a particularly large piece of software where he was not the only author. Because that is where unit tests can really help: preventing somebody from accidentally breaking somebody else's code when they make a change. If you are the only author, you may have a good enough idea of the code in your head to prevent such errors (although it would be somewhat conceited to think you would never do it accidentally)."

Heidi's

We went to dinner this evening to a restaurant which quite unexpectedly turned out to be a real gem. Heidi's located on 50th between Bryant and Lyndale serves an exceptional range of dishes, I had the Chef's surprise as an appetizer which turned out to be smoked salmon with an fabulous cucumber concoction, it was smoked on the premises and smelt incredible, my main course was a lamp shank slow cooked to perfection and served with rice, noodles and vegetables equally exceptional.
Even the lighting was surprising (see strange picture)

Starbucks innovation

Okay, so its a small thing, but....

This morning when I pulled up to the Starbucks drive through and got my morning pick-me-up, the cup came with a new feature. A plastic stirrer, inserted into the hole one drinks through. It was constructed so as to press into place and latch nicely, preventing the traditional cup holder spillage that in the past has been the bane of coffee in cars. An awesome feature.

For a while the Daily Grind coffee shop in Baltimore that I used to frequent provided stickers over the drink hole, but this is better, being replaceable after each slurp. Unfortunately it is yet more plastic to destroy our environment but.... if it saves on cleaner for the car maybe its a wash?

Day 1

Our new CEO Tom Glocer:

A very exciting couple of days that mark a huge milestone for the corporation. Glocer is an advocate of the semantic web and also a prolific blogger both internally and externally. I hope he keeps this up.

Excellent productivity enhancer

Thanks to Ryan for the link.
MacSaber: Turn Your Mac Into A Jedi Weapon

You have to laugh

Does anyone else suspect this might be anonymous?

Ubiquitous connectivity, how will Telco’s stay relevant

My iPhone automatically switches to WiFi when it can get it, soon it will be able to use 3G networks. On my Blackjack I use Skype for voice calls overseas. Put the two together and apart from the last mile to people without Skype why do you need a Telco in the loop. Okay they own a lot of the plumbing I am using but over time other groups will own more and more of the network and the growing public WiFi networks will only improve this situation.

RSS Reader on iPhone - Productivity tool

For the last two weeks I have been using two mobile devices, my Samsung Blackjack II running Windows Mobile 6, and an iPhone. I don’t yet have the active sync Beta running so I have simply moved my Gmail and calendar over to it as an experiment (I am running the Google – Outlook calendar sync which is working quiet well unidirectional) I also migrated my RSS reading to Google Reader via the iPhone, and this single step has been a huge productivity gain, I am now able to stay on top of my RSS feeds whenever I have a spare moment, riding the elevator, waiting in line for a coffee – wherever. As such I am now completely caught up and am now considering subscribing to more feeds. Previously I had just used the Outlook RSS reader which then required me to be powered up and on my laptop. I love reading things on the iPhone the screen size is great and reading lends itself to the touch screen and drag interface, but please don’t ask me to type on it – I hate the lack of tactile keyboard.
Now if only I could get the jog dial removed from the Blackjack and use that space for a larger touch screen – what a device that would be. I hear Windows Mobile 6.1 is coming out with a new version of IE that matches some of the coolness factor of the iPhone browser; I look forward to trying it out.
And one closing thought, why does MSN/Live not have an RSS reader online? If they do please send me the link, thanks!

Microsoft Sends Letter to Yahoo! Board of Directors

REDMOND, Wash. — April 5, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) today sent the following letter to the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Board of Directors:
April 5, 2008Board of DirectorsYahoo! Inc.701 First AvenueSunnyvale, CA 94089

Dear Members of the Board:
It has now been more than two months since we made our proposal to acquire Yahoo! at a 62% premium to its closing price on January 31, 2008, the day prior to our announcement. Our goal in making such a generous offer was to create the basis for a speedy and ultimately friendly transaction. Despite this, the pace of the last two months has been anything but speedy.
While there has been some limited interaction between management of our two companies, there has been no meaningful negotiation to conclude an agreement. We understand that you have been meeting to consider and assess your alternatives, including alternative transactions with others in the industry, but we’ve seen no indication that you have authorized Yahoo! management to negotiate with Microsoft. This is despite the fact that our proposal is the only alternative put forward that offers your shareholders full and fair value for their shares, gives every shareholder a vote on the future of the company, and enhances choice for content creators, advertisers, and consumers.
During these two months of inactivity, the Internet has continued to march on, while the public equity markets and overall economic conditions have weakened considerably, both in general and for other Internet-focused companies in particular. At the same time, public indicators suggest that Yahoo!’s search and page view shares have declined. Finally, you have adopted new plans at the company that have made any change of control more costly.
By any fair measure, the large premium we offered in January is even more significant today. We believe that the majority of your shareholders share this assessment, even after reviewing your public disclosures relating to your future prospects.
Given these developments, we believe now is the time for our respective companies to authorize teams to sit down and negotiate a definitive agreement on a combination of our companies that will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders, creating a more efficient and competitive company that will provide greater value and service to our customers. If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo! board. The substantial premium reflected in our initial proposal anticipated a friendly transaction with you. If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal.
It is unfortunate that by choosing not to enter into substantive negotiations with us, you have failed to give due consideration to a transaction that has tremendous benefits for Yahoo!’s shareholders and employees. We think it is critically important not to let this window of opportunity pass.
Sincerely,
Steven A. BallmerChief Executive OfficerMicrosoft Corp.

Will the pain never end?

My parents became victim to identity theft on their recent stay in the US, some delightful individual cleaned out their bank account and then some. We contacted the bank and they agreed to remove the charges, a week later a letter arrived requesting details, unfortunately we were away at the time and so our response was considered late, they reversed all the credits and then subsequently slapped on a bunch of bank charges. We just received another letter that shows they are now incrementally slapping on charges that are growing every week so the account is exponentially going further and further into the hole.
Their advice – pay the debt off to stop it then they will work out how to refund it all, they can't stop their own systems from doing this…. Amazing, a recursive debt maker. Great code, great systems, great money for the bank. Very poor customer service

Boat Shed Update

All my boats hung now....

Island Sold

Last night my SecondLife island was de-rezzed, it was a great experience modifying it, landscaping, rivers etc. I am sad to see it go but times change and I am not finding enough time to be in SL to justify keeping it. I hope to return to it some day.

Thanks to Ras Courtois for the picture, which captures my last attempt at a home on the island prior to it being removed. The boat you can see moored was a recent addition that I am looking forward to racing in the summer.

Running the numbers

For some reason I have becoming more focused on the impact we are having on our environment, this focus led me to the work of artist Chris Jordan and his site Running the Numbers, the image below is an example of his work, it depicts 426,000 cell phones, the number that are thrown away everyday in the US:

Sea Kayaking UK Plc

Apparently NDK went under a number of years ago and a new company was formed in 2005 to make Nigel Dennis Kayak's, Sea Kayaking UK Plc. My Explorer is Mellon Yellow deck and hull and looks amazing (i think). My next steps are to get a deck mounted compass, to remove the back rest and foot pegs and replace them foam alternatives, fit shock cord to stop the fore and aft toggles from bangin arround and to find a new cockpit skirt as the cockpit is considerably longer than my Capela and hence the skirt wont work.

NDK Explorer

So my good Lady (J) and the girls gave me an early birthday present (very early), an NDK Explorer sea kayak. I quote "The NDK EXPLORER may well be the most widely used expedition kayak on the planet, with circumnavigations of Britain, Ireland, Iceland, New Zealand and South Georgia Island and a number of the Aleutian islands to it’s credit. It is what an amazingly high percentage of high level coaches and expert paddlers choose to paddle, yet many novices find it to be very comfortable, responsive and forgiving. It has similar design attributes to its shorter cousin, but higher maximum hull speed and more cargo room. There is also a bit more cockpit volume. The Explorer is a fun boat to paddle. It carves turns gracefully, and responds to paddler input with consistency and predictability. Its high volume bow stops the nose from plunging into waves and together with its soft rails and good maneuverability gives a paddler a great deal of confidence in surf. The keyhole cockpit with thigh braces allows for good lower body contact and control.. This is a very well rounded, user-friendly boat. It has good speed capability in all conditions, but is absolutely amazing in a following sea.". The garage is now home to four kayaks and one canoe. Roll on the thaw I want to get afloat. We bought the boat last weekend at Midwest Mountaineering in the Twin Cities, which is by far the best kayak and general out doors shop I have ever had the fun of visiting.

VS 2008 Launch

Today I got to be on stage as a part of the Twin City launch of Visual Studio, SQL Server and Windows Server 2008. Approx 3000 people showed up at the convention center, and got to hear about the latest enhancements in the developer IDE, .NET 3.5, LINQ, SQL Server, Windows Server, virtualization, security, performance, mobility, storage technologies and a brief journey into Vista SP1. It was pretty cool, I got to represent the team as I spoke about what we have been doing with the Microsoft Development tools and our adoption of Agile. I got to present alongside Gabriel Broner, GM of the Storage Solutions Division. Thanks to Eric Bowen for the photographs.