Source: https://blog.miproconsulting.com/2010/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 03:00:44+00:00

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Posted December 31, 2010 by Jeff V.
Today’s post is going to be a smallish browser tab clean-out, much like every other Friday Linkology post we publish, but this one will be especially incoherent because I’ve had a fever for the past two days and my thinking was a bit bizarre.
Really, if you’re looking for a ‘2010 Year in Review’ thing, there’s one big mega-list, and it’s up on Fimoculous right now. It’s the best list I’ve seen, and you should definitely check it out. Bonus points for smart categorization. You can lose yourself for hours in this. I speak from experience.
Leo Babauta has The Essential Zen Habits of 2010 up now, and it’s a collection of favorite posts (as determined by readers) from one of my favorite blogs.
An excellent hour-long documentary on statistics, the art of numbers and info-visuals produced by the BBC. Very interesting.
The 19 most wired iPhone and iPad apps of 2010.
Futurity’s top 10 stories of 2010.
Finally, have yourself a safe and happy New Year’s Eve, OK? See everyone next week.
Posted December 30, 2010 by Jeff V.
Here’s a time-lapse video of a 20-hour blizzard compressed into 40 seconds. How quickly the snow accumulates on the tabletop is surreal. Also, I love the way the videographer takes the time to keep the clock face unobstructed as the snow piles up.
Posted December 29, 2010 by Jeff V.
When you attach a small GoPro Hero camera to the tip of a sword and then swing it around a bunch, it’s bizarre. Here, bizarre means it looks as if the sword is swinging the world around it’s axis: the swordsman, the room, everything.
Posted December 28, 2010 by Jeff V.
Here is the greatest letter ever printed on NFL letterhead, written by the Cleveland Browns in response a fan who was angry about the then-popular paper airplane craze and threatened litigation. This was in 1974.
Those were the days when you said what you meant. Can you imagine this happening today? Answer: no, you cannot.
Posted December 27, 2010 by Jeff V.
Jim Coudal of Coudal Partners has updated his perfect martini recipe. Why is this important? Because he considers this recipe scripture and does not tinker with it unless the change is of utmost importance.
Read the original, then read the modification.
And the kicker? You have nearly a whole week before debuting this at your New Year’s Eve party. Win.
Posted December 24, 2010 by Jeff V.
Great Facebook friend data visualization by Facebook’s Paul Butler.
Speaking of Facebook, angry people are more popular.
Google Map— Open Google Maps and search for “Santa NORAD” or visit NoradSanta.org. There’s also a convenient Santa cam here.
Santa via mobile phones — Visit m.noradsanta.org or complete the “Santa NORAD” search on Google Maps for mobile.
YouTube – naturally, Santa has a YouTube channel.
Social Santa — Since Santa is all hip and stuff, you can follow Santa on Twitter at @noradsanta, find him on Facebook here and use Google’s realtime search for updates.
Posted December 23, 2010 by Jeff V.
Just a quick note today to let everyone know that the blogging schedule will be lighter through the holidays. By lighter I don’t mean we won’t be posting, but we’ll be concentrating on smaller posts, perhaps a bit more sporadically, with interesting links and/or web finds rather than short- or longform blog posts. Judging by my server logs and traffic patterns, it seems as if most of you are already pretty wrapped up (get it?) with holiday activities.
Everyone here at MIPRO Consulting wishes you a warm, happy and healthy holiday season. Thanks so much for your continued readership — this place would be worthless without you.
As we look back at this past year I am reminded of the childhood story of the race between the tortoise and the hare, particularly its theme: Slow and steady wins the race. In a business world that often looks at how fast something is achieved, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that perseverance wins more than pure acceleration.
Over the past year, we had two races where our determination paid dividends.
Five years ago we entered into a relationship with Bart & Associates, a firm who has tremendous expertise in the government sector. We brought our extensive PeopleSoft experience to the relationship. Together we were going to rule the world. Quickly.
Things didn’t work out that way. Right away.
Three years later, not one battle had been won. Alas, another crusade presented itself. The United States Senate needed to implement PeopleSoft HR and Payroll. So we began our quest.
Many months later, after dozens of meetings, midnight phone calls and fending off almost twenty other competitors – including Deloitte and Oracle Consulting – our resolve and experience paid off with the U.S. Senate selecting our team, MIPRO/Bart/ IBM, over all others for their PeopleSoft project.
This accomplishment is one we worked very hard to earn and are extremely proud of looking back at 2010. And for a while there, it looked like we were getting nowhere, not unlike the race against the hare must have seemed to the tortoise.
In a similar tale, two years ago we joined forces with Jetco Solutions, a firm in western Michigan, in order to uncover opportunities at the state level. We jointly responded to many Request for Proposals (RFPs) – which most readers of this blog know is a time-consuming effort – with not one win to show for our efforts. Again, after thinking we would move quickly and bag some quick wins, we found ourselves running without covering the expected ground.
Fast forward several long months.
As the numbers game continued, we finally found an opportunity that was perfect for our expertise. The State of Michigan was looking to improve their reporting and analytic capabilities. This will be of tremendous value to the state, helping them uncover areas to eliminate waste and at the same time providing additional insight enabling improved decision making.
The RFP was substantial but we put a team together to respond. We shared our past successes as well as the unique advantages we bring to our customers. We responded during follow-up rounds with additional information.
Before long we concluded that we must have lost. Just about to throw in the towel, we received notice that we were one of the vendors selected for the project. Triumph! And here we were, perfectly cognizant that perseverance pays off, and we were about to chalk this endeavor up as lost.
Lesson reinforced. It happens again and again.
So in 2010, we added the U.S. Senate and State of Michigan to our family of customers. Long hours, email blizzards and a dedicated team diligently working toward the finish line eventually outpaced the subconscious expectations for quick accomplishment (the metaphorical hare).
Me? I hope the hare gets his rest this holiday season, because it looks like 2011 will provide even more race opportunities and we’re up the challenge.
Do you have similar stories of perseverance and determination paying off for you this year? We’d love to hear them in the comments.
Posted December 20, 2010 by Jeff V.
Originally noted by Ganesh A.M. over at the Oracle PeopleSoft blog, PeopleTools 8.51 offers a PeopleSoft Test Framework (PTF) as part of its PeopleTools Objects array. I can see this being useful for POC/development and QA/testing teams.
Here are some videos to illustrate how it works. Questions? Fire away in the comments.

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