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Todd Watson

...And All I Got Was a Lousy Operating System

Written by Todd Watson
12/16/2008 4 comments
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I'm feeling a little under the weather.

I joked on Twitter that it's because I'm about to take some vacation, and without all the stress of working, my immune system becomes excessively deficient. You think I'm kidding? (My London-based colleague responded that perhaps I should consider drinking some vodka. I guess it would certainly kill whatever germs I have!)

I'm just glad I don't work for Amazon in the U.K.

For my time away from the office, I'm planning on visiting the Panama Canal and also doing a little scuba diving. I've never been to Panama, so if you have any hints, tips, and tricks, feel free to send them my way.

I'm very excited about seeing the Canal up close and in person. I've been reading David McCullough's master work on the subject, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914, which, if you haven't read it, is a wonderful book.

To be sure, I don't think I'll ever view a large project at Big Blue to be so daunting again, at least not through the same lens or to the same degree. At least at IBM, I typically don't have to fight mosquitoes carrying malaria and yellow fever, nor have to deal with excessive tropical heat or move millions of cubic feet of dirt and rock.

What I do have to deal with is inordinate layers of "bluereaucracy" and posting presentations on the Interwebs.

To make the latter easier, SlideShare has come up with a PowerPoint plugin that lets users edit and publish presentations directly to their SlideShare accounts, reports TechCrunch. The new feature also allows one to automagically notify others of the new presos via Twitter. Very cool. But, me so sad, because as usual, there isn't a Mac version available out of the gate.

That's OK. I got my revenge with a new T-shirt recently sent to me by one of my IBM running buddies in Toronto. The shirt has a really nifty looking Windows Vista logo on it, with the following tagline just below it:

"Farfromwörken."

Thanks for that, M. It's an instant classic!

— Todd "Turbo" Watson, blogger for IBM's On Demand Business Website

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marcelt
Rank: Cave Painter
Monday January 5, 2009 5:06:10 PM
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didn't wanna let everyone down.

http://www.mysoti.com/mysoti/product/137810

 

 

itguy012006
IQ Crew
Friday December 19, 2008 4:49:34 PM
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Someone make this shirt! I know of so many people that would buy it. I would I know LOL!
SteveGNYC
IQ Crew
Tuesday December 16, 2008 4:00:47 PM
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I WANT ONE TOO!!!

 

I fell out of my chair laughing so hard - that link MUST be provided (he said working from his Mac)

Lemme know when you find something - "The Google" yields only added chaos and my holiday shopping isn't over yet! 

modza
IQ Crew
Tuesday December 16, 2008 3:23:55 PM
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NOT fair to tell us about such a great shirt without giving us the link to find one! I've googled the phrase and so far found citations only on the personal profile of a runner and in a comment on the 2006 definition of administratium (http://tinyurl.com/6o5exe).  I guess if I want the t-shirt I'll have to go to a t-shirt site and design one of my own...
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