Author: Lorin Olsen

Social Music: Socially-Allowable Sharing?

Lorin Olsen


For anyone’s who has read more than one of my blog posts, my next statement won’t be a surprise: I truly love music. I love all kinds of music. And music has always been a social experience for me. And whether you believe that we were created by an all-powerful God or you believe that we were fashioned through fortune and natural selection, rythmn and music have always been a part of the humanity experience.
Music is a means of communicating messages of all kinds.  Music is in commercials. Music is in pageantry. Music is in exaltations of faith. Music is in calm moments of reflection.  And while music can stir emotions even in solitary settings, its most powerful manifestations are found when the composer/performer is communicating emotions to the audience.
And ever since there was “technology” to harness, music has been present. And today is no different. Whether access to music is dampened by concert ticket prices, concert hall construction, the requirements for expensive instruments or even the existence of digital rights management, there are those people who seek to control access to music.  Some control music in order to generate income for themselves.  Some control music in order to control the emotions and the actions of others.
But as the technology wheel spins ever faster, it is increasingly harder to erect frameworks of control.  And it is becoming increasingly easier to scale any such barriers that are erected.  Indeed, music is becoming more plentiful and it is becoming more accessible. AND I LOVE IT EVEN MORE.
So before I wander off into even deeper philosophical weeds, let me get to the point.  In the past few days, I’ve run across new modes of music sharing.
As most folks know, I use many music players. But my favorite players are Songbird and iTunes.  I also use many tagging and metadata tools. And I also use many sharing tools. I have used Last.fm for years.  And I used to be very active on Blip.fm.  I have fiddled and played with iLike (in Facebook) for almost as long.  I’ve used Pandora for over a year.
I buy most of my music via Amazon.  And now that I use Songbird more frequently, I’ve bought a few songs via 7Digital.  Nevertheless, I’ve been known to purchase a few tracks from the iTunes music store.  And now my youngest daughter just got me turned on to a new streaming source (i.e., Grooveshark).
So here are my big questions:

  • What is Facebook planning to do with music?
  • Is iLike the Facebook music play or is Facebook going to do something else?
  • Is Facebook’s music approach going to be just another means of using me as a market data point or as a sales target?
  • Just how much music sharing is enough? [This one is a tough thing to answer as the answer varies from person to person.]  But how much musical “attention” data is too much?
  • How are new sharing tools (e.g., Grooveshark) going to monetize their services?

And if those aren’t enough questions to ponder, I have a few more question for my brothers and sisters in Christ:

  • How will the Christian community exploit all this new technology?
  • How can we demonstrate a moral context for file sharing.
  • And how can we ensure that the music we create and share affirms the Gospel message?

We really need to remember musicians like Keith Green.  He had the world as his musical oyster – so to speak. But he gave up massive financial gain when he realized that the gifts and talents he could use to generate money were not given to him for that purpose.  God gave him the words and the music as a means of communicating the Gospel. Therefore, he turned his back on “success” and “fame” and chose the life of a prophet and a pastor. May God bless us with men who share Keith’s heart for the world – and his wisdom for the role of music in that world.
-Roo

Saturday: Sabbath or Siesta?

Lorin Olsen


It’s been a rather peculiar week.  It’s been full of work and “vacation” time: work at home, work from home, worry for those not at home and all sorts of stuff in between.
I started the week by burying myself in a few matters at the office.  While I’m between a couple of large projects, I thought that I’d catch up on a few miscellaneous matters that have fallen between the cracks.  Specifically, I was asked by the messaging team to pull together some better application monitoring protocols for our instant messaging system.  Two years ago, I deployed a Jabber-based system for about three thousand folks across the country.  And we’ve done some pretty rudimentary monit0ring of the system since then.  Currently we measure the basics: processor utilization, hard drive utilization and task monitoring.  But we’ve always needed some real application monitoring.
So last Friday, I decided to invest some time in some Perl-based app monitoring.  Lo and behold, I was able to find some Perl libraries that were perfect for what I needed.  Specifically, I found the Net::XMPP libraries over at Sourceforge.  These libraries  were perfect for developing a connection, session and messaging monitoring framework I desired.
The basic programming took about two hours.  Of course, getting this stuff put into production took the most time as I needed to get the simple script past the relevant guard dogs in the process.  But by the middle of the week, I had everything put in place and we are now using some fairly nice system monitoring for the Jabber application.  And it was so very nice to take something off the list of “things o do” that I had previously deferred.
By the middle of the week, it was time to switch gears.  Dana was heading off to SoCal to talk to a collegiate basketball coach about completing her basketball career at yet another school.  But someone needed to watch Jayden (my grand-daughter).  So it was my turn in the barrel.  I took off the last few days of the week so that I could watch Jayden while Dana was out of town.
And I had a wonderful time with her.  We talked and learned animal noises together.  And she truly terrorized our meek and unsuspecting dogs.  While I was quite tired by the end of the week, I can honestly say that I had a a lot of fun.
But no day was complete without some investment in technology.  On Wednesday, I got a chance to  finally upgrade my Kindle to the latest firmware: i.e., v2.5.2.  And I really like all of the new features.  I was so excited to tell Cindy about all the cool new social media capabilities.  But while I was probably boring her beyond belief, she suddenly lit up with excitement.  Indeed, she was like a kid pulling on my arm.  She let me know that she had screwed up my Kindle order last December.  And as a result, she had an extra Kindle that she had forgotten to send back to Amazon.  So she wanted me to configure it for her own use.
So Thursday was dedicated to Jayden… and to preparing Cindy’s Kindle for its first use.  Strangely enough, she has a global Kindle while I have a US Kindle.  So I had to do a little different firmware prep.  But it was all fairly simple.  Within a few hours, she was all configured and ready to go.  So far, she loves the device.  And I wouldn’t ever consider trading one of these for the vaunted Apple iPad.  The Kindle is a purpose-built machine that is a fantastic e-book reader.  I’d much prefer to have this device than any tablet PC that can’t make up its mind what it wants to be when it grows up.
By the end of Thursday, I had gotten my tech fix and I had given my wife a new toy to play with.  Success was mine; muhaha.
And Friday found me doing a few more tech projects.  But on this day, it was a few things I didn’t expect.  I had seen all the hoopla regarding the latest WordPress release.  And while I really don’t currently need to run in MU mode, I’m so very glad that this upgrade was finally available.  I did a little research and then flung myself headlong into the upgrade.  [FYI, it’s not much of a fling/plunge as the upgrade is tremendously simple to implement.  And it is well worth the few minutes it will take to get it done.  Btw, I’m typing this post into the new v3 WordPress site I run at home.]
But after that brief technical respite, it was time to re-focus on family matters.  My eldest daughter and her fiancé came by for the day/evening.  And my two younger daughters were coming home: one from the west coast and one from the east coast.
So now it’s Saturday.  And it is the Sabbath for many people.   Cindy is off at one of her classes for grad school.  Dana and Jayden are in Pittsburg, Kansas.  Meredith and Josh are throwing a going away potluck – and it looks like it’s going to rain.  Adam is somewhere in Oklahoma – feeding his inner caveman.  But even amidst this daspora, I’m not alone.  I’m here with Bailey and the dogs.
I spent a few minutes this morning upgrading my router’s firmware.  And I’ve even been introduced to Grooveshark.  I am so excited that there are still so many things to learn.  Everyday, there are new and fascinating things that can tickle my technical fancy.  And Bailey showed me Grooveshark this morning.  It’s a very cool music streaming and sharing site that is really trying to honor the intellectual property concerns of musicians and the music industry.  So I started listening to some cool new worship music.
So it’s a rainy Saturday morning. At this very moment, I’m listening to Keith Green, I’m typing this post and I’m talking with my youngest daughter Bailey.  She is an amazing young woman.  She is so intensely focused on the most important love affair of her life; she is investing her time and her energy into developing her love affair with her Savior.  Right now, it is the most important thing to her.  And that is so appropriate.  In the words of Keith Green, my daughter is “bananas for Jesus.”  She reminds me of the kind of excitement that I had when finished my second year at college.  I pray that I can truly be challenged by the headlong intensity that she now demonstrates.
So as Saturday continues its headlong plunge towards Sunday, I’m finally starting to slow down myself.  It’s been so busy this week.  Dare I think of a siesta?  Lord, please touch every member of my family this day.  And please help me to be the kind of husband and the kind of father that my family needs.  And please help me to be the kind of man that you have called me to be.
-Roo

Simply Storage or Portable Platform?

Lorin Olsen


When I learned that Microsoft was releasing a new revision for the Xbox 360 software, I got very excited.  I really wanted to try out the new flash drive capabilities.  So I started to hunt around the house for a spare flash drive.  Unfortunately, they had all been claimed by various members of the family.  So I started looking around for a cheap flash drive.
Well, I found a great deal on Amazon.  I could get a 16GB flash drive from SanDisk for $32.  Of course, it shipped with U3.  But I knew how to take care of that.  When the drive arrived a few days later, I simply used the U3 uninstall utility that SanDisk provided.  After clearing out the partition table and reformatting the drive, I had a great new external storage source for just a few dollars.
After successfully testing the new Xbox firmware, I realized that I didn’t want to commit 16GB to storing Xbox games and game stats.  So I reformatted the drive yet again.  And then I decided that I wanted to build a real portable platform with it.
My needs were simple.  I wanted a thumb drive that would house all of my important tools.  And I didn’t want to install those tools every time I visited a new workstation.  And when I stepped away from that workstation, I didn’t want to leave any flotsam, jetsam or personal data behind.  I knew that tools like this existed because the U3 suite is basically a commercial (and invasive) version of what I wanted.  After a few minutes, I ran across several definitions of portable applications.  And I found the PortableApps.com website.
The folks at PortableApps should be commended.  They have developed an open source platform that lets you use portable applications from almost any kind of portable storage device.  You can use a hard drive, an iPod, a phone or even a flash drive.  And lots of people have packaged apps to run on this platform.  In fact, it is the diversity of pre-defined applications that makes this platform so impressive.
After installing the PortableApps framework onto my new flash drive, I set up a dozen of my most favorite applications onto the drive.  In fact, I am using a portable instance of Firefox as I enter this post.
After working on this for a couple of hours, I realized just how powerful these kinds of devices/platforms can be.  While it is always best to provide support remotely, sometimes you have to go to a system in order to resolve its issues.  If you equip your support techs with a drive that has their most critical tools, you can increase the chance of solving problems while reducing the cost of providing that support.
I can’t wait to use this new flash drive for all of the support activities that I do throughout any given week.  PortableApps, FTW!
-Roo

A Geek Goes SEO

Lorin Olsen


I am a geek.  And I’ve been a geek for many decades.  I was playing with computers when I was fifteen.  That doesn’t sound like much to adults today.  But I was fifteen in 1976.  I was introduced to computer technology by a math teacher who was responsible for entering teacher’s time sheets into the Montgomery County school system.  I’ve been hooked on tech ever since.
In the ensuing decades, I’ve been a programmer, a security specialist, a capacity planner, an infrastructure technologist, an enterprise architect and a lot of management positions in between.  But in every job, I’ve been a geek.  I’ve always loved the technology.  And I’ve never gotten tired of the thrill that I get when I conquer something new.
So it is with a great deal of joy that I’ve tackled the most recent challenge given to me by my wife.   She is a marketing and communications specialist.  But she has found herself “displaced” in the recent economic turmoil.  So while she is seeking a permanent gig, she is doing some piecework.  She has been doing some new blog startups and some site development for an informal network that she has nurtured over the years.  And she needed someone to help her with site testing.  That’s where I come in.
She needs a place to “test” some of the site designs she is working on.  And so I’ve decided to set up a platform within the house.  When she launches sites, we ultimately go to hosting services that are appropriate for each client.  But during development of sites and concepts, she wants to test sites and test WordPress plugins (esp. SEO type add-ons).
So I’ve decided to leverage open source technology throughout the platform.  Here are the components thus far:
– I am using XAMPP as a distribution package for Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl.  I’ve also decided to include Tomcat – just in case she decides to leverage any lightweight Java packages.
– I am using WordPress as the blog site manager.  [Note: There is a very good primer on setup of this platform here.]  I’ve used WordPress for quite some time.  But I’ve either used the WordPress.com site for lightweight hosting or I’ve contracted with a hosting provider.  But in this case, I’m running it myself.  The cool thing about doing it this way is that I finally get to play with WP plugins.  And there are some exceptional plugins for WordPress sites.
– There are quite a few sites that tell you what plugins you should use for SEO tweaks.  I wouldn’t dream of recommending one over another as I am so new to all of this.  So what I did was use Google to compare SEO plugins.  I figure that someone who knows SEO would be able to “goose” their posts on the subject.  So I did an informal survey of multiple blog posts to see which plugins were recommended most often.  Given a fifteen minute analysis window, I decided that the “Top 5” analysis done by PCDrome seemed quite sound.  So I am beginning to test this on my lab setup.  I’ll let everyone know how it turns out.
Obviously, this platform is evolving.  But I do have one takeaway from all of this: don’t just trust someone who claims SEO knowledge; verify their competence by looking at the sites and successes that they have had.
-Roo

Those Who Refuse To Learn From History

Lorin Olsen

Dear Senators,
One of the most important powers that our Founding Fathers vested into the Presidency was the power to establish and manage relationships with foreign powers. That power specifically includes the negotiation of treaties between our nation and foreign nations. But that power is not unlimited. Indeed, our Constitution specifically ensures that international treaties must be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate. This power ensures that the President cannot conduct foreign affairs without the overwhelming consent of the most deliberative body in our legislature. Just as importantly, the power of the Senate flows from the citizens of each state. Hence, all treaties must have the overwhelming approval of the states (and their representatives).
Given these facts, I implore you to carefully consider whether or not you will support the most recent nuclear arms treaties between the US and Russia. I have been a voting citizen for more than thirty (30) years. And in that time, we have lived under constant threat by foreign powers – including Russia. But throughout that time, we have been protected because our adversaries knew that we could and would use unimaginable force in response to direct attacks upon our nation. Indeed, our entire defense posture has been based upon the fact that our adversaries didn’t know if their actions might provoke an irrevocable response. The fear of such a response was the deterrent against direct hostile action.
However, this new treaty threatens the delicate balancing act that protects us. This treaty (and the policy delivered in association to the treaty) threaten us because we are going on record saying how and when we will respond. Indeed, the basis of the new policies seems to be that we will not respond (with our nuclear force) even in the face of chemical or biological assaults on our nation.
I’m a simple person. And if a bully knows you won’t respond to an assault, then that bully is more apt to assault you. Indeed, bullies (and tin-pot dictators) only respond to force and threats of force. In fact, most military scholars note that Europe might have avoided the Second World War altogether had European nations met the challenge of Adolph Hitler with force rather than weakness. Neville Chamberlain was wrong then. Let’s not try and repeat the mistakes that he made – especially when the possibility of unimaginable death tolls are a potential outcome. Look at what a small group of terrorists did to New York City and to the nation’s capital using two airplanes and several tanks of jet fuel. Consider the kind of civilian death toll that an emboldened terrorist group might be able to generate using NBC capabilities.
As a citizen who is counting upon the US government to protect myself and my family against all threats, I implore you to vote against this ill-advised treaty/policy.
Sincerely,
Lorin Olsen
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

Wireless Security, In My Chest

Lorin Olsen


Tomorrow is the big day.  I will be getting a new implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).  It’s been almost eight years since my original implantation.  So technology has changed.  As noted before, I’ll be getting a Medtronic Virtuoso.  And this device comes equipped with wireless management technology.
The potential benefits of using wireless technologies in this application are staggering.  During implantation, there is no need to put anything in the sterile field except the doctor’s hands and the device that will be implanted.  And I’m already using Medtronics remote care and management services (trademarked as CareLink).  But the latest generation of CareLink will allow the doctor to obtain vital information almost immediately.
But the benefits aren’t without downside risks.  First and foremost, I wonder what it would take to hack this new device.  Using the MICS frequencies helps; I won’t be subject to WiFi hacking!  😉  But if I ever become famous or important, I wonder just how high the barrier would be to hijacking either the “information channel” or the “control channel” for this device.  I give Medtronic a great deal of credit for addressing these matters.  But I wonder how safe these systems truly are.
In candor, if someone wants my data, there are easier points of attack.  First, my cardiac data is on traditional computing systems managed by Medtronic.  And the data will be available from my CareLink unit, the data in my cardiologists office and also at Medtronic’s facility.  It would be far easier to hack these systems (either via frontal assaults or via social engineering) than it would be to directly hack the source of my data (i.e., the device in my chest).  And I’m sure that there are plenty of people that handle my data such that social engineering assaults are both plausible and low-cost.
But as of tomorrow, my abstract concerns become practical considerations.  Here’s hoping that none of my teenage neighbors get any fanciful ideas about hacking my heart! 😉  I just wish that I could add a few layers of additional security.  For example, I  would require using a VPN to access my device.  And my device would only be  accessible via an additional token of my choosing (and via a CA I choose).  But I really don’t want to see if this is possible as it would strip the veneer of confidence that I’ve meticulously constructed!
-Roo

Always Backup Data – And Have a Backup Plan

Lorin Olsen


Most of us remember the old joke about Jesus and Satan in a computing competition (details available here).  At the last moment, the power goes out.  When it is restored, Satan has lost his data and Jesus completes the task.  Why?  Because Jesus saves (his data before the power outage).
And I have been forced to teach my daughter this lesson.  Two weeks ago, she started having trouble with her laptop.  Every so often, something would result in her Windows system configuration being corrupted.  And she was unable to even boot an OS to perform a system restore.  So I was forced to break out the repair disks, boot from the Windows install media and recover system files (and the boot sector) by hand.  I am so very glad that I remember how to do this.  I am even more glad that this data is readily available on the web.
So after the last failure, we bought our daughter an external had disk.  We then moved all of her personal files to the external drive.  Now she had a place to store her data in case her laptop’s disk drive failed.
Everything worked quite well – until the external drive failed.  OK, failure isn’t exactly what happened.  Actually, my daughter dropped the hard drive and then stepped on it.  She heard a crack and then realized had what happened.  But it was too late.  She could no longer access the drive.  And she had an important paper to turn in to her professor.
Of course, she should have backed it up.  But she didn’t.  So it was time for the backup plan: use some tools to get the data back.  I told my daughter not to use the computer lest she overwrite any data that remained on the hard drive.
So I had to get to work in order to recover data on the laptop and recover data on the external drive.  Getting back the data on the laptop was fairly simple.  I used Recuva.  I was hoping that I could open the app ad just recover the data.  But I had done a disk defrag since the first event.  So I was hopeful that the sectors we needed weren’t overwritten.  F0rtunately, they weren’t.  But I had to do a deep scan o recover most of the files.  I think a got about 98% of her files.  And at first blush, she had all the important files that she needed.
So it was on to the external drive.  And it was a mess.  Recuva could do nothing with it.  So it was time to move on to an industrial solutions.  I tried to use a trial copy of the Ontrack tools.  Their trial allows for analysis and recovery of one file.  Fortunately, she only had one file she really needed.  After spending eight hours assessing the drive, it looked like we could recover anything – including the one file.
So I recovered the one file.  And checked out the pricing of the tool.  And the full-feature tool was between $199 and $499.  This may be chump change for a business.  But I can’t afford that much money just for some miscellaneous files.
But this episode has taught me that I need to have a more robust series of tools.  So I’m off to the Internet to do some additional research on file recovery tools and services.  Do any of you have some recommendations?
-Roo

Windows Weekend

Lorin Olsen


I’ve been running Windows 7 since January of last year.  But over the past few weeks, I’ve been getting the notices that the Windows 7 release candidate that I was running would expire at the end of February.  So it was finally time to buy the upgrade licenses and installl the GA code.
But over the past few months, I’ve also started to have some weird system problems.  Specifically, the video driver I have been using has started to abort.  And in a few instances, I’ve even had a few BSOD troubles.  So it was with a little trepidation (and a sliver of hope) that I decided to upgraded two of our systems here at the bat cave.  And as much as I hate to do clean installs, that is the path that I chose.
It was a good choice.  The install went extremely well on my system.  I booted from the install media, installed into a new directory and the system installed flawlessly.  Yeah, it took a few hours to reinstall some applications, but the system is running wonderfully well.  And my sliver of hope was rewarded as all of my video driver issues have been resolved.  They may reappear.  But I’ll keep my eyes open and make sure that I document all of the restore points I will be setting.
Unfortunately, my wife’s upgrade did not go as well.  I tried to boot from the install media – but I couldn’t get the prompt to “press any key” to boot from CD/DVD.  I went into the BIOS and changed a whole heap of settings.  But I still couldn’t get the system to boot from the Windows 7 installation media.
So I asked my wife if she was having trouble with her CD/DVD combo drive.  And after a few minutes, it became clear that the trouble was with the hardware itself.  There was no way to boot from the drive because the system didn’t recognize the drive at all.
So I started feeling a little stuck.  I really didn’t want to plunk down the cash as Cindy is between jobs.  So I decided to build a bootable flash drive from the installation media.  I followed the steps outlined on the “Into Windows” web site (details here).  From the resulting flash drive, I could boot and install Windows 7 on my wife’s system.
Once I could boot from installation media, I had no trouble reinstalling the GA code on Cindy’s system.  Her install went well, with a few minor hiccups where I needed to remove the flash drive before a reboot.  But the overall process was much faster than installing from optical media.
Once I got the system installed, I migrated all of her apps and turned the system over for her QA.  Everything was great – until she noted that Outlook wasn’t working as it was supposed to work.  I worked to configure Outlook and utilize all of the PST files that she had acquired over the last couple of years.  Unfortunately, I had deleted a couple of the PST files.  So it was time to break out Recuva and get back the files I had eliminated.  After a few stumbles along the way, I got the files restored and I got Outlook properly configured.
The entire upgrade process (with all of the fits and starts I encountered) took less than a day.  And in the end, I had increased the stability of my systems.  So while I was reluctant to spend the money, I must admit that it was money (and time) well spent.
-Roo

It’s Time for a System Upgrade

Lorin Olsen
Medtronic VIrtuoso ICD

I’ve been in systems work for almost thirty years.  And in each of those years, annual budgets have always included upgrades to pre-existing systems and technologies.  For some companies, that refresh cycle is every thirty-six months.  For some companies, it is extended to every sixty months.  In my case, that cycle has been 90 months.

Basically, it is now time to replace the ICD that has been in my chest for over 90 months.  First, I am so thankful for the men and women that work at Medtronic. Second, I am so very thankful for all the investors that have set aside their own savings in order to invest in research and in patient care.  Third, I am thankful for the doctor that selected an exceptional device.  Finally, I am thankful to my family for always supporting me throughout this phase of my life.

But I am now transitioning from first-time ICD recipient to lifelong ICD recipient.  It’s now time to set aside the things of youth and settle into treating my ICD as part of my normal day-to-day  existence.

In fairness, it really has been part of my routine for seven years.  Indeed, it took me six months to get past the weirdness of relying upon tech for my continued life.  But once you get past the mental barriers, living with an ICD is like living with any other routine care.  For some people, this means routine blood testing.  For others, it means routine medication.  For me, it means that I can call my self “The Six Million Dollar Man.”

And it is quite interesting to note how this tech has evolved.  When I started with my implant, I had to see the doctor every six months.  About three years ago, I received a small “reader” that collects telemetry and sends it via a modem.  The latest revisions of these device us secure, wireless communications to download data in real-time and then send it to a remote monitoring site (kind of like household monitoring).  And if problems are noted, updated therapies can be immediately downloaded to the device.

It’s all quite interesting – and a little bit disconcerting.  I am now subject to the security of wireless communications and firmware that can be revised on the fly.  It’s all very cool.  But if I were someone important, I might be concerned that someone could p0wn my heart!

Nevertheless, I find myself more interested than fearful.  And I’d love to see firmware mods with really cool features – though I can’t think of practical uses.  But I can see a mod where I can tap on my ICD and have it emit some kind of tones/music.  Maybe wolf-whistles or something similarly inane.

But as I consider this as a pivot point, I am starting to view what else I can upgrade during this transition point.  First, I need to reconsider whether it is time to jump back into IT leadership.  I stepped back from that as I didn’t want others to depend upon me when I was concerned about my own “longevity.”  Those times are over.  So I’m considering changing back into a management track.

Second, I really need to step up and become an even better spiritual leader for my household.  I can’t remember the last time I seriously witnessed to someone in my sphere of influence.  That really needs to change.  I must confess my selfishness and plead for the strength to witness my convictions.

Third, I really need to wrestle with God to determine what his plans for my life are.  I am restarting so many things.  As a middle-aged man, I was watching my household dwindle.  But now that Cindy and I are helping our daughter to raise our grand-daughter, my expected life roles are different than I anticipated.  I love my grand-daughter even more than I can express.  But I really need God to empower me to be the kind of influence that my daughter and my grand-daughter really need.  So I’ am re-dedicating myself to the task of becoming a family leader once again.

But rather than prattle on, I’ll close this post out very simply.  I covet your prayers.  The surgery is scheduled for March 3, 2010.  I may live tweet before and after.  But that will depend upon how out-of-it I feel and whether I can smuggle my phone into the hospital with my stuff.  Maybe I can talk to the doctor and see if he tweets.  It would be quite cool to have some kind of live stream.

But between now and then, I covet your prayers.  Pray that I will become the man that God wants me to be.  Pray that my heart is young enough to listen to what God wants rather than just requesting his blessings on what I want.

-Roo

It's Time for a System Upgrade

Lorin Olsen

Medtronic VIrtuoso ICD

I’ve been in systems work for almost thirty years.  And in each of those years, annual budgets have always included upgrades to pre-existing systems and technologies.  For some companies, that refresh cycle is every thirty-six months.  For some companies, it is extended to every sixty months.  In my case, that cycle has been 90 months.
Basically, it is now time to replace the ICD that has been in my chest for over 90 months.  First, I am so thankful for the men and women that work at Medtronic. Second, I am so very thankful for all the investors that have set aside their own savings in order to invest in research and in patient care.  Third, I am thankful for the doctor that selected an exceptional device.  Finally, I am thankful to my family for always supporting me throughout this phase of my life.
But I am now transitioning from first-time ICD recipient to lifelong ICD recipient.  It’s now time to set aside the things of youth and settle into treating my ICD as part of my normal day-to-day  existence.
In fairness, it really has been part of my routine for seven years.  Indeed, it took me six months to get past the weirdness of relying upon tech for my continued life.  But once you get past the mental barriers, living with an ICD is like living with any other routine care.  For some people, this means routine blood testing.  For others, it means routine medication.  For me, it means that I can call my self “The Six Million Dollar Man.”
And it is quite interesting to note how this tech has evolved.  When I started with my implant, I had to see the doctor every six months.  About three years ago, I received a small “reader” that collects telemetry and sends it via a modem.  The latest revisions of these device us secure, wireless communications to download data in real-time and then send it to a remote monitoring site (kind of like household monitoring).  And if problems are noted, updated therapies can be immediately downloaded to the device.
It’s all quite interesting – and a little bit disconcerting.  I am now subject to the security of wireless communications and firmware that can be revised on the fly.  It’s all very cool.  But if I were someone important, I might be concerned that someone could p0wn my heart!
Nevertheless, I find myself more interested than fearful.  And I’d love to see firmware mods with really cool features – though I can’t think of practical uses.  But I can see a mod where I can tap on my ICD and have it emit some kind of tones/music.  Maybe wolf-whistles or something similarly inane.
But as I consider this as a pivot point, I am starting to view what else I can upgrade during this transition point.  First, I need to reconsider whether it is time to jump back into IT leadership.  I stepped back from that as I didn’t want others to depend upon me when I was concerned about my own “longevity.”  Those times are over.  So I’m considering changing back into a management track.
Second, I really need to step up and become an even better spiritual leader for my household.  I can’t remember the last time I seriously witnessed to someone in my sphere of influence.  That really needs to change.  I must confess my selfishness and plead for the strength to witness my convictions.
Third, I really need to wrestle with God to determine what his plans for my life are.  I am restarting so many things.  As a middle-aged man, I was watching my household dwindle.  But now that Cindy and I are helping our daughter to raise our grand-daughter, my expected life roles are different than I anticipated.  I love my grand-daughter even more than I can express.  But I really need God to empower me to be the kind of influence that my daughter and my grand-daughter really need.  So I’ am re-dedicating myself to the task of becoming a family leader once again.
But rather than prattle on, I’ll close this post out very simply.  I covet your prayers.  The surgery is scheduled for March 3, 2010.  I may live tweet before and after.  But that will depend upon how out-of-it I feel and whether I can smuggle my phone into the hospital with my stuff.  Maybe I can talk to the doctor and see if he tweets.  It would be quite cool to have some kind of live stream.
But between now and then, I covet your prayers.  Pray that I will become the man that God wants me to be.  Pray that my heart is young enough to listen to what God wants rather than just requesting his blessings on what I want.
-Roo