Overheard: How to keep your IT job during a recession

Aleksandra Todorova recommends Four Ways to Keep Your Job in a Slowing Job Market

1. Make yourself indispensable
If your manager has to cut 10% of the staff, you certainly don’t want to be at the top of her list.

2. Don’t be high-maintenance
Even if you’re among your company’s top-performing employees, that won’t matter much if you’re a pain in the neck.

3. Stay busy
Now is not the time to take a three-week vacation or shop online at work.

4. Do damage control
Workers between 45 and 60 years old who get the pink slip should consider negotiating with the company to stay at a lower salary.

Overheard: Silverlight demo by Forrest Key (Microsoft)

Overheard: Linux developers dancing in the Moonlight

We are formalizing a collaboration between Microsoft and Novell with the explicit purpose of bringing Silverlight to Linux and do this in a fully supported way. This is an historical collaboration between an open source project and Microsoft. They have collaborated with other folks on the server space (Xen and PHP) but this is their first direct contribution to the open source desktop. Miguel de Icaza, Microsoft/Novell Collaboration on Silverlight.

Overheard: FedEx Kinko commercial — fill in (employee’s name) here

I love this commercial. We should make a list of other things you can count on:

Peggy, can I count on one of your dogs to bark during the conference call? Woof!

Overheard: Jake Kuramoto explains why I have too many meetings

Before technologies like conference calling bridges, VoIP, and online conferences, meetings were constrained by the physical scarcity of conference rooms and offices. The assumption here is that due to physical scarcity, only the most important (think blockbuster) meetings were held. Technology has again removed the scarcity constraint and allowed “consumers” access to the Long Tail of meetings. So now, meetings of all levels of importance (blockbusters, indies, B-movies, classics, etc.) can be held. Jake Kuramoto, The Long Tail of Meetings

One key component of the Long Tail model is that it allows consumers access to more content that was previously unavailable due to scarcity. This is a good thing for the consumer. When applied to meetings, however, I think the conclusion is that maybe it has become too easy to hold a meeting.

Jake is a brilliant observer. I feel SO much better knowing there’s a scientific reason for my messed-up calendar.

Overheard: Hyperconnectivity is more than just a Nortel buzzword

So far hyperconnectivity is a business turnaround strategy, a marketing campaign and a vision for the future of connectivity. Of the three, it is most compelling as a vision put forth by beleaguered Canadian telecom giant Nortel. Raheem Mohammed, Hyperconnectivity: Hype or what? Beyond the vision and marketing, Nortel is underpinning its hyperconnected vision on three standards - WIMAX, Ultra-Mobile Broadband and LTE.

Nortel’s official vision (video)

Parady news interview with former Nortel CEO

Overheard: Shpigler coaches Yahoo on how to negotiate more effectively

Overheard: Bluetooth will piggyback 802.11 when it needs more speed

This is the wireless technology equivalent of ‘low hanging fruit. What we’re doing is taking classic Bluetooth connections – using Bluetooth protocols, profiles, security and other architectural elements – and allowing it to jump on top of the already present 802.11 radio, when necessary, to send bulky entertainment data, faster. When the speed of 802.11 is overkill, the connection returns to normal operation on a Bluetooth radio for optimal power management and performance. Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director, the Bluetooth SIG.

Overheard: Say goodbye to middleware as a standalone offering

The notion of middleware as a standalone offering is disappearing. Aneel Bhusri as quoted in SaaS Start-Up Workday Acquires Cape Clear

Workday acquired Cape Clear Software, one of the last remaining independent providers of an enterprise service bus, the middleware technology for service-oriented architecture. The SaaS startup, also known as the PeopleSoft alumni association, has positioned itself as an on-demand alternative to ERP.

Mary Hayes Weier writes “It’s a critical technology and talent acquisition for Workday, since IT managers often cite concerns about integrating their legacy apps with on-demand apps as the biggest barrier to SaaS adoption.”

Overheard: We’re locking you in for your own good — the world is a dangerous place.

With enough lock-in, a company can protect its market share even as it reduces customer service, raises prices, refuses to innovate and otherwise abuses its customer base. It should be no surprise that this sounds like pretty much every experience you’ve had with IT companies: Once the industry discovered lock-in, everyone started figuring out how to get as much of it as they can. Bruce Schneier, With iPhone, ‘Security’ Is Code for ‘Control’