tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:51:38 +0000Welcome to the blog where I share my professional views and opinions. Considering my career is in the field of information technology (IT), the majority of my comments will pertain to that subject matter. Feel free to browse around and leave a comment. I will try post frequent entries, so bookmark this spot and check back, from time to time.http://williamfink.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (William Fink)Blogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-4468578826395166979Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:48:00 +00002008-01-03T08:05:53.246-06:00MusicMP3RIAAI believe the recording industry, as we know it, is dieing. It is dieing because they refuse to change with the times. Like the old horse and buggy whip makers, they are in a line of business which is fading away. I also feel the recording artists are also clinging on to an old and outdated model and must either move-on, or move over.Why is the RIAA so hot about this? They are hot because they http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2008/01/is-end-near-for-riaa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-9012062500496572582Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:21:00 +00002007-12-18T09:27:13.085-06:00ComputersProgrammingMobilityGoogleNetworkingAs many writers who concentrate on information technology will do at the end of the year; I, too, will prognosticate on what will be hot for 2008. In no particular order, here are ten of my predictions.1) Bandwidth changes will be coming. It would be easy to leave it at that, but I think the United States is on the verge of some major changes to the bandwidth infrastructure. I believe the largesthttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/12/technology-predictions-for-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-6002675885755768342Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:17:00 +00002007-11-30T13:19:54.736-06:00MobilityGoogleNetworkingWireless IT World has recently published an article which sheds some more light onto the conundrum of Google’s interest in the 700 MHz spectrum.LinkThis paragraph is of interest to me...“Google has also supported efforts to push Congress to pass net neutrality requirements, which would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or slowing Web content not approved by them. Google's interest in thehttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/11/google-expected-to-bid-on-700mhz.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-5297787489020684537Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:43:00 +00002007-10-18T07:44:41.992-05:00GoogleIf Goog411 and the talk of a GPhone were not enough, now comes GrandCentral. GrandCentral is a company who’s purpose is to create a single contact point for people to get in touch with you. When you subscribe to GrandCentral, you will be issued a phone number. This phone number becomes your single contact point.Here’s how it works… You keep all of the phone numbers you have, like your homehttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-google-phone-services.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-1716003894980781533Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:21:00 +00002007-10-09T08:50:36.480-05:00GoogleThe New York Times published an article about the possibilities of Google entering the wireless phone market. The angle they chose to take was about Google’s GPhone and Apple’s IPhone. While there may be enough speculation to warrant several paragraphs of news, I think the NYT completely missed the target.I believe Google has very little interest in Apple’s IPhone, other than partnering with http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/10/google-phone-service-coming-soon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-7414346896320134105Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:49:00 +00002007-10-09T15:50:04.225-05:00ConsultingThis morning I moved into my new cubicale, which is in a different building from where I used to sit. The accomodations here are less than desireable and provides me with a reminder of the down-sides of being a consultant. As a consultant, you are affored all the anemeties a full-time-emplyee would not want. In my case, I am in Yellowville because most employeess would rather not have a http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/10/welcome-to-yellowville.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-2690826897679538675Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:32:00 +00002007-09-27T09:39:20.637-05:00I have created an Orkut community pertaining to the city of Belleville, Illinois. If you are interested in participating in this group, then feel free to sign up. If you have a gmail account, then I believe you should already have an Orkut account.Q:Why use Orkut when there are many other communities/forums on the Internet?A:Because Orkut is with Google and it is my hope Google will provide http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/belleville-illinois-community.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-8768734048513238978Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:59:00 +00002007-10-09T15:50:54.123-05:00MusicAs I have mentioned them in a previous posting, this group has an interesting sound, but an even more interesting approach to music distribution. It seems they are eliminating the middleman, the large record companies.Here is their latest video, let me know if you like it.A Venomous Tale - The Bastard Fairieshttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/venomous-tale-new-video.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-1612902183434350622Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:53:00 +00002007-09-26T06:54:19.157-05:00In my previous postings, I have discussed the perks associated with traveling with a top-tier consulting firm. There are other advantages, besides reward points and per deim payments. One of these advantages is the exposure you will get to some of the worlds largest and most influential companies and the people who are running them. Above all, this is probably the largest and most overlooked http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/down-side-with-big-guys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-6309876853669159639Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:32:00 +00002007-10-09T15:51:32.857-05:00GoogleThere have been some rumblings regarding the prospect of Google establishing a virtual world which will integrate Google Earth, Orkut, and some yet-to-be-identified product. Speculation has it that people will create a virtual entity of themselves (an avatar) and use some form of Google Earth to meet other people’s avatars. People will have another reason to sit at home and be dormant.http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/google-virtual-world.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-4900930825792283900Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:44:00 +00002007-10-09T15:52:18.022-05:00MusicGoogleGoogle seems to be very interested in the 700-MHz radio spectrum auction by the FCC. Should Google bid, and win, they will then have the rights to establish wireless communication. As a technology consultant,I find this interesting because of a few other things Google is already working on, like the Google Wireless Phone. In case you did not know, Google has been developing a wireless phonehttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/google-wifi-and-radio.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-3454228633193566098Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:41:00 +00002007-09-20T07:48:15.053-05:001) Once you have accumulated enough points, fly to an exotic location for a weekend get-away. Many times the firm will pay a portion of your air fare, which would be equivalent to the amount it would cost them to fly you home. Use your rental-car and hotel points for the weekend vacation.2) See if the hotel offers a kitchenette. Preparing your own food is an excellent way to save your per http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/bonus-items.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-2794892186967256861Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:00:00 +00002007-09-20T07:09:07.575-05:00While I have explained the points and the perks, I have not yet gone into too much detail about the early retirement plan. In a moment, it will all come together; but, for now I still need to continue with the points.As I mentioned, you will start accumulating points for all of your travel necessities. In time, the accumulation of points will enable you to have very fancy vacations. For http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/more-about-perks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-7596009062977341056Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:54:00 +00002007-09-19T09:29:36.811-05:00In my previous blog entry, I suggested the global firms might not be a good as the middle-market firms. In terms of quality people, this I believe to be true. There are, however, some advantages to using a global, or top-tier, firm. The most significant advantage is the support structure behind each consultant. The big-boys go to great lengths to make sure each consultant receives continued http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/working-for-top-tier-consulting-firm.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-4626973410358365325Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:17:00 +00002007-09-18T09:52:29.255-05:00Yesterday I had a conversation with someone regarding billing rates. Having worked for two middle-market consulting firms (Daugherty Business Solutions and G.A. Sullivan) and three top-tier firms(KPMG Peat Marwick, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Avanade) I am here to say the rate charged by the big guys may not necessarily mean you are receiving any-better quality from their consultants.So, what ishttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/working-for-consulting-firm.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-7752172215248375562Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:20:00 +00002007-09-17T14:14:39.174-05:00CropsMobilityBaseballBellevilleAfter a long absence, I think I am going to try and get back into the game of writing to my blog. Since my last posting there has been much going on, both professionally and personally. On the personal side, little league baseball is over for the season and the Fink’s are ramping up for the fall season. On the professional side, I am still helping farmers all over the world grow better cropshttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2007/09/back-in-game.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-116653460285484868Tue, 19 Dec 2006 13:04:00 +00002007-10-09T15:53:09.933-05:00MusicThe other day I was perusing videos on YouTube and came across a young 8-year-old girl who was making a political statement. The irony of the situation was that I was very turned-off by the message, but intrigued with the music at the end.The music was from a group called “Bastard Fairies” and they have a very interesting sound. You can download their album, “Memento Mori,” from their web site athttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/12/refreshing-new-group.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-115471263727472886Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:29:00 +00002006-08-04T12:33:29.036-05:00One year ago, I was starting my Chicago tour of duty on the failed Accenture project called AESM (Formerly called Razorback). This project was to become the turning point of my career. I am now working for a St. Louis based company consulting for St. Louis based clients. I have not set one foot on an airplane for almost one year and am working with cutting-edge technology.Technologies I am http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/08/one-year-ago.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-115090593636881254Wed, 21 Jun 2006 16:04:00 +00002006-06-21T11:05:36.380-05:00I support the idea of Net Neutrality. The Internet, as we know it, was initially set up with this idea in mind. What many people do not realize is that the Internet is based on the concept of “Try to get your message across.” This has absolutely nothing to do with quality or speed. With the growing popularity of multimedia, quality AND speed do become an issue.Right now, the primary application http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/06/my-take-on-net-neutrality.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-114985690272755367Fri, 09 Jun 2006 12:40:00 +00002006-06-09T07:41:42.736-05:00I found this comment from Sony’s CEO to be very interesting. It would seem Sony has some very big plans for the PS3 – more than just video games.President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Ken Kutaragi has commented on the concept that the PlayStation 3 is a computer, rather than a game console: "We believe that the PS3 will be the place where our users play games, watch films, browse the http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/06/will-ps3-be-more-than-just-for-games.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-114736489791658503Thu, 11 May 2006 16:27:00 +00002006-05-11T11:33:09.726-05:00The USA Today has an article which brings to light some of information regarding the so-called “Illegal Wiretaps” being conducted by the NSA. This is not your typical “Wiretap” where there is a human listening to your phone conversations.This is a massive collection of data being analyzed from many different perspectives looking for social networks. These social networks can be scored to identifyhttp://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/05/social-networks-to-catch-criminals.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-114717791005342292Tue, 09 May 2006 12:26:00 +00002006-05-09T07:36:48.530-05:00Sony has just announced the PlayStation 3 will be released on November 17.There will be two different versions, one with a 20GB hard drive and one with a 60GB hard drive option. The 20GB will retail for 499 and the 60GB for 599.The PS3 will offer different hardware options, depending on which version you buy (20/60 GB). Options include ports for memory cards (Sony Stick and SD Cards) USB ports, http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/05/playstation-3-on-november-17.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-113699144361790163Wed, 11 Jan 2006 14:56:00 +00002006-01-11T08:57:23.633-06:00Eric Weidmann was quoted in the paper as saying he is not interested in hearing what constitutes vote fraud; his interest is in how to fit it. To prevent vote fraud, two things need to take place. One, only accept ballots from valid voters; and two, prevent the voter from being influenced by outside sources. Both of these preventive measures seem to be a feasible request.In order to verify http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/01/vote-fraud-in-st-clair-county.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-113683409842494833Mon, 09 Jan 2006 19:12:00 +00002006-01-09T13:14:58.430-06:00Pack it up.Google has recently released what they are calling “Google Pack.” This is a collection of software being offered/supported by Google. This collection includes the tool-bar, IM, Earth, and other assortment of programs. It also includes AdAware and a special version of Norton Antivirus.All of the software is maintained by a special application calledGoogle Updater . This program is used http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/01/google-pack.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20619139.post-113656727576569691Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:58:00 +00002006-01-06T11:16:05.003-06:00In no particular order:1) Google will continue to innovate with more hosted solutions. The effect of this will be continued increases in Google’s stock price. Is a split in store for 2006? Maybe a Google home-device.2) More companies will settle on using Microsoft’s .NET architecture. Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 will fuel this.3) Java will continue to be the programming language of http://williamfink.blogspot.com/2006/01/technology-predictions-for-2006.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (William Fink)1