Not for yellow-beer-drinking wimps! / Oil is getting priceless / Supply chains and…

Not for yellow-beer-drinking wimps!

Now, I have really found a great beer. It even comes with a very suitable attitude for me. The name of the beer is Arrogant Bastard. The beer has a fantastic taste, enough alcohol to make instant impact on the lucky ones, who know where to buy the beer. Well, read the truth from the site and envy me. I am drinking it right now. Go figure! Or, check the animation. This is how you (I) will end up looking after too many bottles of Arrogant Bastard. Clearly, not for wimps!
Arrogance warning on... This blog is not for wimps or sissies. Or anyone drinking yellow-beer. If you are such a loser, go away to do some sissy things.

Oil is getting priceless

Oil is getting more and more expensive. See the news. Read the leader of the Economist. I think Economist may be right. Shortage of refinery capacity is one factor, successful speculation plays roles. But the fact is, that demand is larger than supply, and supply is more likely to get smaller still. Demand is certain to get larger. So, the prices will rise further. Once they reach all time highs and gas will cost $4 or more in USA, I am sure we will have local insurgencies in USA. Oh, it is getting violent, and popularity of Bush will collapse. He and his bosses do not like that. So, what could they do? Well, one thing would be to prevent China from buying so much oil. They have to military to do so, but unfortunately oil is traded in open market. The market would just raise the price because the risks would be higher. Similarly, if and when USA invades Saudi-Arabian and Iran, the markets will react. So, just invading and robbing the oil fields will not be enough. USA must nationalize the oil fields in the Middle-East. This, of course, will hurt some of the real bosses, but short of rigging (big time) the elections, this is the only real alternative. And, remember, nationalizing property because of national security is not socialism. On the contrary, it is part of spreading the freedom (from free markets) around the world. Remember to buy stock of some company producing killing apparel.
Enough conspiracy theories for today?

Supply chains and Wal-Mart

Why is Wal-Mart so successful? Well, they are more efficient than the other in optimizing their supply chains. They are also quite good in keeping their employee's wages down. And denying them medical insurances. Etc. But that's alright. Clearly, it is according to the values of the society. In Rome, behave as Roman. So, let's not complain. Let's instead discuss why Wall-Mart, K-Mart, Target (and in Europe Carrefour, Metro, Aldi, Lidl) are so efficient and successful when compared to traditional retailers. The simple reason is that they have shorter supply chains. They have outsourced part of their supply chains to their customer. They just bring the good near the cities, not near the customers. So, customers must pay transportation from warehouse to their homes. Traditional retailers have one more step in the supply chain: the retail store close to their customers. Furthermore, the big chains, being far, have outsourced freezing and refrigeration to their customers. The warehouse stores are so far, that one must buy more than one can reasonable consume before the good go stale. So, one must buy a huge fridge and freezer. But this is all well known. But, the real question is why do we need Wal-Mart in the first place. If we have time to drive far to buy groceries, why do not we just drive all the way to the slaughterhouses and farms and factories and buy enough for a few years? More seriously, the price of oil is going to change the situation and may hurt Wal-Mart more than smaller retailer. I would assume that underground warehouses in urban centers with home delivery systems are the next big thing. Unfortunately, I do not have money to start such a business. Or time, for that matter.

Daily crono

Last Systems Engineering lecture. Great, I like Dan Clausing so much. He is walking encyclopedia of product development. It is unfortunately, that some of my classmates are too proud to listen to him. I admit, that his way of expressing himself is not very current, but when he speaks, one learns. If one just can be humble and polite enough. And, without knowing the history, changes of progress are slight. The course itself could have been better. I will later write a longer proposal how to make it better.
Later, beer with Kumar, hacking at home. It is somewhat hard to concentrate when it is 30C all the time. But is means that beer tastes even better. And some beer means a lot of creativity. Just wait and see/read.

Why is SW development so hard?

Brooks claims that is hard because SW is intangible, it is complex, malleable, etc. I agree on those, they are real reasons. The most important reason is that most SW developers just are not up to their tasks. Anyone can learn some Java or some other language, get a job doing some trivial stuff and claim to be a programmer, even one with significant experience (after doing the Java-stuff for a year or so). Have you ever heard of a SW developer/programmer, who agrees that his skills/productivity are below average? Mine are, or then not. But I am not that good a programmer. I am more than a decent designer, though. What a loser I am! But seriously, there is a dramatic difference between SW engineering and, say, nuclear engineering. No person can claim to be competent nuclear engineer by just walking down the power plant for a year without any training. I am sure, such a person would not get a change to have anything to do with design or implementation of any nuclear power plant. I do hope so. But I am not sure that some not that good SW engineer cannot sneak in doing some programs for the power plant. Well, maybe not. You may get the point or not. SW engineering is hard for those who have no clue! As is any engineering! The main problem is, that the SW engineering community is full of imposters. Now, I am about to have a clue after graduating. Or then not, in which case I will commence a new career as a bicycle courier.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs from July to September 2005".