This is not a man with a blog.

Risk vs Volatility

By Shabbir | March 13, 2006 |

People usually use the phrase "risk versus reward", but if you’re a careful poker player, I suspect you don’t really think too hard about the reward.  Also, if you play small stakes like I do where your normal everyday income far outpaces your poker bankroll, then you don’t care so much about the reward as…

My last word on Microsoft Origami (for now)

By Shabbir | March 11, 2006 |

So the Microsoft Origami launch has come and gone, and the concensus seems to be: cool machine, but the battery life is too short and it’s a tad too expensive.  I, for one, am crushed.  With all the advantages of Microsoft’s Tablet OS (an extremely awesome piece of software) and the fact that I think…

Random memory of the day

By Shabbir | March 11, 2006 | Comments Off on Random memory of the day

Sarah and I honeymooned in Cuba.  We were just talking about, reminiscing about the craziness that was that trip when she reminded me about the movies they showed on tv.  She remembered that every time we were at someone’s house and they had the TV on, there was a good chance they were showing Jaws,…

It’s 11pm, do you know where your company’s biggest cheerleader is?

By Shabbir | March 9, 2006 | Comments Off on It’s 11pm, do you know where your company’s biggest cheerleader is?

I woke up this morning at 4:30am, took the baby away from the bed since he was keeping Sarah up, then showered and flew to another city, did a client conference call discreetly from inside a Borders books, did a client pitch for two hours (wowed them!), and then flew home.  Because of time zones…

More Origami news

By Shabbir | March 9, 2006 | Comments Off on More Origami news

As follows any quantity of hype, there is then a period of disappointment.  It will be an exercise in PR to watch Microsoft carefully handle these criticisms of the new Origami devices from the Korean manufacturers: 1. Processors not as fast as expectedThe haters are complaining that the devices need a faster processor.  Perhaps I…

Conversations with vendors, part 725

By Shabbir | March 8, 2006 |

Remember when I said honesty gets vendors a long way with me?  Witness the conversation I just had.. Me: This is Shabbir, may I help you? (it doesn’t matter how important you think you are, if you’re in a service firm you should start every interaction with the idea of helping people) Guy: I don’t…

Microsoft Origami

By Shabbir | March 7, 2006 | Comments Off on Microsoft Origami

As a fan of the Tablet PC, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about Thursday’s launch of Microsoft Origami, the presumed paperback sized Windows computer.  There are a couple of big if’s to it, and so I wanted to examine them in today’s post. 1. Is the form factor a plus…

Yahoo’s AJAX slider

By Shabbir | March 6, 2006 | Comments Off on Yahoo’s AJAX slider

Recently Yahoo! released a set of AJAX user interface components to allow people to make their applications look snazzy and be more useful.  One of the most intriguing to me was the slider.  Sliders are typically the property of desktop applications.  They provide the ability for the users to filter and narrow without suffering the…

Forces Regain Control in Pakistan

By Shabbir | March 5, 2006 | Comments Off on Forces Regain Control in Pakistan

Violence broke out along the border in Afghanistan, in the tribal area Sarah and I visited in December 2004 called the Northwest Frontier Province. Under pressure from the United States, the government has been trying since early 2002 to assert control over the tribal areas, whose forbidding mountainous terrain serves as refuge for Taliban and…

Microsoft Gets Mysterious With Origami Project

By Shabbir | March 3, 2006 | Comments Off on Microsoft Gets Mysterious With Origami Project

It’s a handheld computer, bigger than a Treo, smaller than a traditional tablet, much like the OQO you’ve seen me talk about before.  It’ll be a  killer because unlike the PSP, it runs Windows, which means it’s a platform, not a black box. However unlike the PSP, it’s not going to primarily be a game…