A Call for Application Portfolio Management

And now with a huge portion of the COBOL workforce retiring (i.e. baby boomers) there is a sense of panic as the ecosystem is threatened by a looming shortage of staff and a scramble to snatch up those few green screen programmers remaining. So here are my questions: Did nobody see this coming? Was anybody paying attention? And what lessons will we learn from this that we can apply to our own little ecosystems of java, PHP, Ruby, and .NET?

The mainframe one is unique, mostly because the web ways (full of web governance, web 2.0, social media, and open source) don’t compare to thing like COBOL, a 50 year old language that still accounts for 80% of the currently active computer code (i.e. 250 billion lines of it) worldwide.

That's where APM (Application Portfolio Management) comes in. we must apply such management technique to understand whether we are in balance, or whether our applications will go the way of COBOL with that sudden threat to their existence and a need for immediate reaction.

According to NASA's Office of the Chief Information Officer :

"[APM] is really about implementing a repeatable process to assess what we have, and, if an application is not performing or does not meet our architectural requirements, eliminating it and replacing it with a better performing application. We're doing it to try and reduce the money we spend on maintaining existing applications (that don't perform well) and freeing up that money to invest in new and better performing applications."

The Incredibles (2004, Movie)

Every story begins with a superhero who is invincible, but who soon faces total defeat.

On the surface, "The Incredibles" is a goof on superhero comics. Underneath, it's a critique of modern American uniformity. Mr. Incredible is forced to retire, not because of age or obsolescence, but because of trial lawyers seeking damages for his unsolicited good deeds; he's in the same position as the Boy Scout who helps the little old lady across the street when she doesn't want to go. What his society needs is not superdeeds but tort reform. "They keep finding new ways," he sighs, "to celebrate mediocrity."

The Lives of Others (2007, Movie)

He sits like a man taking a hearing test, big headphones clamped over his ears, his body and face frozen, listening for a faraway sound. His name is Gerd Wiesler, and he is a captain in the Stasi, the notorious secret police of East Germany. The year is, appropriately, 1984, and he is Big Brother, watching. He sits in an attic day after day, night after night, spying on the people in the flat below, after they implement wall-to-wall surveillance on a successful playwright and his actress girlfriend. That angle is in itself unusual: a thriller that follows the villains.

Wiesler is a fascinating character. His face is a mask, trained by his life to reflect no emotion. Sometimes not even his eyes move. As played in Ulrich Muehe's performance of infinite subtlety, he watches Dreyman as a cat awaits a mouse. And he begins to internalize their lives -- easy, because he has no life of his own, no lover, no hobby, no distraction from his single-minded job.

The government minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme), develops a lust for Christa-Maria and orders Wiesler to pin something, anything, on Dreyman so that his rival will be eliminated. But there is nothing to pin on him. A loyal spy must be true to his trade, and now Wiesler is asked to be false to prove his loyalty.

The Berlin Wall falls in 1989 (the event is seen here), and the story continues for few more years to an ironic and surprisingly satisfactory conclusion.

"The Lives of Others" is a powerful but quiet film, constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires. It reminds us that, for millions of people, that happy ending came too late.

Goodnight, Mister Tom (1998, Movie)

This is a wonderful movie. John Thaw plays a tough old man in WWII England who takes in a sad, troubled boy and together they learn to heal their wounds, and find hope again. A very touching story. Well worth watching.

范蠡與西施 夢會太湖

What a night of glamorous performance! What a life time experience!

Thanks to Tak Lau (劉德麗) for this rare opportunity for me to participate in this famous Cantonese Opera 范蠡與西施 夢會太湖.

It turned out to be a heavy chore for someone like me who doesn't know Cantonese. You can imagine all the guess work and laughs occurring in our practices and rehearsals. I played one of the four angels living by the lake side with the main lady who died there, according to the legend. This opera piece is taking place at the lake for those two lovers reunite. However, they won't be able to be happily there after. You know the rest.

The four angel performers were easily identifiable by their flamboyant costumes and stage makeup. It has marked an unforgettable threshold in my dancing career.

San Jose & Point Reyes Trip

Tagging along with my hubby's IAI regional conference, we spent five days in San Jose and another whole day at Point Reyes National Seashore. It was a relaxing mini-vacation for me.

Steamers of Pismo

Anchored atop the bluffs of Pismo Beach we stopped by Steamers of Pismo for lunch. Enjoyed their famous award-winning clam chowder and their panoramic view of the Pacific coastline offers unforgettable scenes of the historic Pismo Beach Pier.

Gathering with college classmates

I took the liberty of meeting some of my dear friends living in the neighborhood and had a hearty meal at 清真東來順. It's always a pleasure to get together with old friends and keep on chatting.

Double Tree Hotel at San Jose

This hotel was easy access, on & off freeway. It's so easy to drive into the air port because it's adjacent to the terminals. I'm so thankful that my car is equipped with navigation. It's mainly for business stay though. Nothing much to do nearby.

Winchester Mystery House

I stopped by it once owned by wealthy widow Sarah Winchester, who kept construction going on the 160-room Victorian mansion for 38 years. It was a cool house and it was interesting to see how this woman spent her money constantly building and rebuilding her house. I did the Mansion tour and the Behind the Scenes tour combo, plus the gardens. Amazingly, she developed and practiced many eco-friendly ways of conserving water and heat. But, is it worth $31 to visit?

The Tech Museum

An innovative and thoroughly modern museum, "The Tech" is an exploration of technology and how it affects our lives. Four major theme galleries showcase everything from robotics to earthquakes and satellites to Silicon Valley. I watched one IMAX movie "Destiny in Space" which gets me an exciting glimpse into the future of space exploration. With never-before-seen giant-screen images of the space shuttle in orbit and thrilling fly-overs of Mars and Venus, the film focuses on the partnership of humans and robots working in space, e.g., Hubble. I also enjoyed a nice talk from NASA speaker explaining the supercomputer being utilized there. The whole place was very innovative, and noisy too, being filled with field-trip children.

Computer History Museum in Mountain View

I took both 'Tours of Visible Storage' and 'Babbage Demonstrations' tours. There is a "storage" room that has display after display of some of the original computer systems, portables, video games, calculators ever designed. For many of us who watched the computer revolution grow, most of the displays will bring back reminders from decades ago. IBM and Apple's first computers, even Google's first server as well as tons of other systems (military/civilian). The Museum's newest exhibit, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 provides a chance for me to experience one of history's most unique and historically significant mechanical computing engines. The Baggage Engine weighs 5 tons and consists of 8,000 moving parts.

Santana Row, San Jose

This place is pricey. The overall experience is completely artificial with architecture that resembles a Hollywood set. The chess sets, the lounges under the trees, the architecture, the excitement level...it is all lovely. We only shopped at Burberry.

Filoli House and Garden, Woodside

"Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life."

Filoli is the last of the grand California estates to be created during the Golden Age of the early 20th Century and the longest surviving one. Designed and built between 1915 and 1917, Filoli is set against the dramatic backdrop of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Opened to the public in 1976, this historic site features a 36,000 square-foot modified Georgian residence and a 16-acre English Renaissance style garden. I took both House and Garden tours. The rooms that did impress me were the ballroom and the foyer with the staircase. The main draw here is the expansive Gardens. I have to say I was originally expecting to enjoy the mansion itself more than the gardens but found myself less interested in the house. It was perfect for me who just wanted to get out and lose myself in a vast garden for a day.

Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County (Land and Sea)

The story of Point Reyes is a study in motion--slow, continental transformations and sudden, violent jots that shake the earth; the rhythmic play of sea-spray along the coast; wings of birds flashing in flight; drifting shrouds of mist and fog; browsing deer who occasionally follow our movements with soft eyes; and the ebb and flow of Pacific tides. Exceptionally, we did see group of elks. It's a home to several cultures over thousands of years, Point Reyes preserves a tapestry of stories and interactions of people. Over 1,000 species of plants and animals can be discovered. A breathtaking place!

Embassy Suites Hotels, San Rafael

The good: Separate bedroom from living area, good breakfast as others have mentioned, nice wide doorways, elevators and auto doors at front. The bad: NOISY! - Sound echoes up from the atrium. Since we booked it through AAA/Travelocity and we were given a room way from the elevator. Lesson learned: next time you'd better off booking through hotel reservation.

Olde Port Inn, Port San Luis, Pier 3, Avila Beach

It offers a unique feel that stands out among Central Coast Restaurants. Great location, wonderful views of bay, neat inside, we sat at a glass bottom table that looks down through the pier into the water. But...the food was very very bad. Clam chowder was the worst I have ever had. A previous review said the food here was hit or miss, I guess we missed....

Enter the Dragon (Movie, 1973)

Enter Bruce Lee -- He's Still Alive and Kicking

``When the opponent expands,'' Lee says, ``I contract, and when he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit,'' he says, showing his fist, ``it hits all by itself.''

The picture is expertly made and well-meshed; it moves like lightning and brims with color.

The story is a bit reminiscent of James Bond's "Dr. No," with a renegade fiend (same white cat and minus one hand) running an island fortress and a spectacular school in "martial arts." Just as obviously, the three tough agents invading the place are white (John Saxon), black (Jim Kelly) and yellow (Bruce Lee).

On an adventure level, the performances are quite good. The one by Mr. Lee, not only the picture's supermaster killer but a fine actor as well, is downright fascinating. Mr. Lee, who also staged the combats, died shockingly at the age or 32 shortly before the movie was released. Here he could not be more alive.

But the most surprising moment comes at a point when Lee is forced to kill, and what sticks with the viewer is not his body in action but an extraordinary slow-motion shot of the emotion playing across his face.

No one could overstate the degree of Lee's international star power and influence. He honorably held his place in a line of great action stars.