David Vella

Moving the blog

I will be moving my blog from Typepad to Blogspot in a couple of days! 

The new blog will be at http://www.davidvella.com

Cannot understand why I should pay another $85 for a year with typepad when Google Blogspot does the job well.

I will also put up a new post on the new blog in a couple of days!

Networking - Quality and Quantity

Check this post about networking - to the point and well said.

http://www.vladville.com/2008/02/ludacris-adventures-of-business-social-networking.html

The Toilet Paper Challenge

Very often while passively watching TV, reading or driving I tend to think about different things and question myself Why and How they were done and how things could be improved. 

Recently while in London I was watching TV and a toilet paper advert came up advertising the fact that this particular brand is more absorbent than the rest … whatever.  That is when I imagined owning a toilet paper company.

"I am a dreamer! A hopeless dreamer! In a split second I ask three hundred thousand questions to myself, come up with the same number of answers and build a concept idea and a vision! Most of it is based on gross assumptions, silly ideas and a wandering mind."  David Vella - 2007

If I owned a toilet paper company how would I REALLY differentiate my product from the competition?  The differentiation has to be good enough to produce REAL value and not just marketing blurbs.   This is toilet paper innovation I am talking about - it specifically needs to be functional and practical.

So I came up with some ideas and some friends came up with their own ideas but I will post my ideas later on.

Assuming that you cannot differentiate by

1) making the toilet paper cheaper than the competition

2) adding yet more layers to keep making it softer (there is a limit you know)

And you need to

1) keep it in a roll form factor – so no dispensers please

2) make it fit to the millions of toilet paper holders around the world

How would you differentiate your toilet paper company?  What are the things that annoy you most when using it !!!!! ????  Next time you get to use the toilet, slow down and make a note of those little annoyances.

By thinking hard about the steps it is very probable that you will come up with some ideas yourself.  Unfortunately we tend to get complacent about the way things are done - don't let this happen to you.

Tell me!!

Meanwhile .. some interesting links on toilet paper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_paper

How toilet paper is made:

The Toilet Paper Chuck Norris uses

2008 - My thoughts!

Within the IT Security industry it is a  common practice that IT Security organizations such as anti virus vendors etc. publish what they believe will be the top threat for 2008!! 

I decided to do the same and released the top threats list through the company I work for - GFI Software.

Below is copy-paste of the official release on what I can clearly see in my crystall ball - the top threats with a twist!

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Humans and their weaknesses…

         
and what that can will do to your network)

    

   

What will 2008 mean for network and systems administrators? What or who will cause the biggest headaches? Will technology itself be their bane? Or will the human being prove to be the master culprit in 2008? In all their complexity, human beings are weak, inquisitive and some times downright stupid. David Vella identifies five human characteristics that he believes will be the cause of much havoc within organizations in 2008.

   

People are Horny

   

Let’s be honest. In today’s globalized world of business nothing generates more money than sex and people’s capacity for lust. By nature people are horny and while that is not necessarily a bad thing, malicious individuals know very well how they can exploit this weakness to their own benefit.

   

Few will admit to it, but everyone knows that a huge number of people have visited or visit websites with porn content at work. Porn is a huge and complex business and as usual where there are huge amounts of money to be made you will always find shady people connected in one way or another to these activities for their own personal gain.

   

A growing number of pornographic websites are designed in such a way that exploits and other malware are hidden so when a person clicks on any images or links, these are downloaded and the individual’s machine will become infected.

   

In 2008 we will see a lot of people’s computers becoming infected with malware that is transferred through the web browser. This will not happen only via pornographic websites but also through relatively popular websites that have been taken over by hackers.

   

People are Ignorant.

   

And unbelievably so… especially when it comes to the technical side of modern technology. In theory, technology is there to serve people and not shackle us and make our lives misery. Unfortunately, in practice things don’t really work out that way.

    

How many times have we received emails with an attachment that contains some slideshow or document that wishes us (yet again) Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings?

   

In 2008, we will see an increase in client-side application exploits through emails and the web in the form of ‘funny’ jokes, chain letters, save-the-world and all the other useless stuff. Users will continue to open the attachments and the risk of infection within an organization’s network will increase (no matter how many times you tell them not to open emails that looks suspicious or they were not expecting).

   

Privacy? What’s that?

 

‘John Doe just sent 5 of your friends a Candy Cane Martini.’

   

So much talk about privacy from the privacy advocates. Do people really care? People will give away their name, age, gender, email and where they live in order to be able to send a ‘free’ virtual beer. Now that’s fun!

   

The reality is that although people in general rally behind privacy advocates in the fight for their ‘rights’; if the guy at the back of the platoon suggests that you can send a free beer by just ‘adding an application’ most, if not all users will fall over each other to do just that; leaving the poor privacy advocates alone at the front screaming their heads off until their voice is just a squeak.

    

So in 2008 people will continue giving away personal information for free to unknown individuals and organizations through myriad social networking sites. And a lot of people will be doing this while they are at work!

    

While the network administrator may be updating his systems with the latest patches, sweating and hoping that systems stay up, employees will be browsing the latest and greatest social networking site sending ‘cool free beers’ and subscribing to different applications and useless services.

    

With people giving out so much information for free, we can all expect a spam-healthy 2008.

    

People are so helpful

         

It’s in our nature to be good to our neighbors and colleagues; well, most of us anyway. It feels good to be able to help somebody in need.

      

So the next time our beloved network administrator calls me from his cell phone in an airport in the middle of nowhere asking me for my password as he needs to install some software that will make my system go faster (and therefore I can navigate Facebook more efficiently) I’m more than happy to help him and provide him with my details.

          

Social engineering gets you everywhere. Actually, more importantly, it gets you into everything, especially trouble. (helps in dating as well)

         

2008 will be a happier place because everyone will be helping each other out; unfortunately that does not necessarily mean that it will be a good thing or for a good cause.

         

Targeted attacks through social engineering will generate more high profile cases in 2008.

         

People are greedy

      

“Request for urgent business relationship

First I must introduce myself as person sending this communication for you.   My name is Dr Hector Eucrepyo II and I am top official for Nigeria water salt plant.  My uncle Dr Fidilissimo Afarfar was head of plant but he was attacked by rebels on their way to a disco party.  The reason for the attack is not know but I think that it is because my uncle did not like house music.

Before he was attacked my uncle Dr Fidilissimo Afarfar stealed 50 million us dollars (five with seven zeros) from company that supplied big pipe.  My uncle was very greedy person but during rebel attack he bumped the head and he is now turned in a good person.  He prays for world peace every day and he sees beauty pageants on antenna televison every Sunday.

Since my uncle is now a kind person he told me to find another kind person to give him the money (50,000,000$) so that the person can open free hospital for nice models in beauty pigeons. This is the reason I am contacting you sir because tru the facebook I realize that you are a very kind men and have a very big thrust.  The uncle Dr Fidilissimo Afarfar would like to send you money to open the hospital for the sick people. 

I am looking forward to your email so I can give you more details how I can send you the money to open the hospital.   Please do not tell anyone till now on this project and I solicit your confidentiality in this translation.

World peace,

Dr Hector Eucrepyo II”

       

People fall for this stuff – need we say more?

       

David Vella is Director of Product Management at GFI Software

          

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Rubble Bubble

Just saw a really cool vid on the next Bubble - Very true I must say.

Check it out!

2007 Rolex Middle Sea Race - Sunday 21 October: 2000 CET

I have been following the Rolex Middle Sea Race with interest on the tracker that each boat is equipped with.  On the official website I can see a status on every boat that is updated every 15 minutes.

By Sunday noon it was obvious that most of the smaller boats were retiring.  I could actually imagine all the crews together at some Sicilian restaurant discussing the wind and the sea and having a nice time.

On Saturday evening Rambler was already on the forefront.  At this present time (2000 CET) it’s still at the front in the Strait of Sicily followed by Atalanta II which seems to be hesitating in following Rambler and has been keeping back from entering the Strait for a couple of hours.

With Rambler going through the Strait of Sicily I went up to check the weather and it looks that  although they are right now in force 6 & 7 winds they have a force 8 & 9 winds coming from behind.  Probably they will be in the center of the very strong winds from 2100 CET till 0500 CET the following day - Monday.

As can be seen on the charts if Rambler doesn’t stop at Pantelleria then they would be in North Westerly force 8 & 9 wind for hours, almost the whole way up to Malta!

   

Will they stop to shelter in Pantelleria considering the very big advantage they have on the other yachts and the hesitation of the other participants to go straight into the force 9 winds or will they continue sailing downwind?

Impulse Buying

No, this isn’t some marketing theory about impulse buying, although probably that would be interesting, but this is about stuff I impulse buy (a problem I have?? probably!!!)!

You see – I have this thing that sometimes I buy this stuff without thinking twice on the real costs, if I really have time for it or if I have space for it.

I will be posting stuff on any impulse purchases I do under the ‘impulse purchases’ tag.

Last Sunday on the way to the marina where Zero (the boat not the dog) is moored I passed in front of a shop which had this Cisk branded mirror! The price was Lm18 but I got it at Lm15. I still don’t know where I am going to hang it – probably when I buy a new apartment I will set up a ‘bar’ corner where to entertain friends and will hang it there!

The Cisk branded mirror

In 2005 I did another impulse purchase!! I just went a bought a Jago Geep. A Jago Geep is basically a ‘kit car’ with a Ford Escort Mark II chassis with a ‘Jeep-Like’ fibreglass body. My Jago was red with a

Toyota

2.0 litre engine – at a cost of some Lm600 or so.  Again – I drove it for like 5 times mostly and spent the rest of the days either parked in the garage or else on the streets, where I got 3 ‘unlicensed car’ tickets!

Sister Photo of a Jago Geep!

I spent about another Lm300 on other stuff and then in early 2007 sold all for about Lm325, a total loss of Lm600.  What a waste of money!!!!

Another impulse buy in 2000 (I think) was my bike – a Honda Rebel 250cc at Lm650! Duhhhh!!! Engine ceased up on my way to the mechanic (just drove it once), after about Lm200 of repairs I got it fixed.

Although I did drive it a bit more than the Jago (maybe 20 times in all) it’s been in my garage collecting dust since 2003 or so – and I still have all those past road licenses to pay!!

 

Sister Photo of a Honda Rebel Bike

My first sailing boat - a dream come true!

At last .. a dream come true!! I just bought my first sailing boat – specifically a 1992 Beneteau

Oceanis 370!!  It's 36 feet (10.9 metres) with an inboard 28HP Volvo engine.

I have been wanting a sailing boat for years now, I want to just hop on it after a day of work and spend a couple of hours sailing around the islands with a couple of Cisk beer and the wind filling the sails!!

I have never been on a sailing boat before so I have loads to learn!  I found out that Sailing For Dummies is a good starter book!

The original name of the boat was Magic ....

which I renamed to ZERO – same name as my dog.

More Photos:

P.S.  The IT angle? I t has a GPS Plotter (Raymarine C70) that I can interface to my laptop to plan my  trips! J It also has an Autopilot and other instruments that measure Boat Speed, Direction, Wind Speed and depthsounder!

Google Personal Finance?

While going through my bank account just recently, I realized how lousy I am at managing my own finances.  This is quite weird considering that I confidently and happily do so as part of my job at GFI Software. And yet I must admit I was never that good at tracking, budgeting and forecasting my own expenses.

It’s time to admit it that I needed help! And as usual I turned to Google to help me find the software I need.

I immediately found that the top two personal finance and budgeting software solutions are MS Money and Intuit Quickbook. As I tried to download MS Money from the Microsoft website I saw that the trial download was only available for U.S. customers – something that is quite an issue for me considering that I reside in Malta.

Malta is a little island in the Mediterranean, so small that I doubt I am going to see a version of MS Money for Maltese customers any time soon. (You can find more about the fantastic island of Malta at http://www.visitmalta.com)

Anyway, I checked for a European edition of MS Money which unfortunately doesn’t seem to exist. This led me to look at Quicken which unfortunately yielded the same results: Intuit only have a U.S. version of the software.

This led me to return to Google search to find a different software package! There are hundreds of packages out there – I definitely won’t be evaluating all this software as I have better things to do in my own time.

One personal finance tracking software – or better said, hosted service – was from a company called Mvelopes. While going through the Mvelopes website and checking out its features, a question popped in my mind! Does Google have something similar after all? I was quite sure that they didn’t but I couldn’t resist checking,   hoping that I would be surprised. Unfortunately, as expected, no surpises there; however, all of a sudden my mind switched context!

I am a dreamer! A hopeless dreamer! In a split second I ask three hundred thousand questions to myself, come up with the same number of answers and build a concept idea and a vision! Most of it is based on gross assumptions, silly ideas and a wandering mind.

I was no longer interested in finding software to help me in my quest. I just wanted to spend time thinking about why Google don’t offer this service, what if they offered it and how they would do it.
Wouldn’t it be a great idea were Google to offer personal financial tracking software to allow users to do expense tracking, budgeting and forecasting? To do so, Google will need to build trust from its users, though to be honest I do not have any insight whether users trust Google or not. Then again, how important is trust for end-users really? I strongly feel that nowadays most users are ready to compromise security for functionality and ease-of-use; but then again, this is a topic for another blog post.

I would imagine that if Google had to offer a personal finance hosted service they would eventually integrate it with ‘Google Checkout’ and ‘Google Finance’; specifically, ‘Google Checkout’ would be a feature of the personal finance tracking service.

Build or Buy?

Would Google build or buy the service? What is required to build great personal finance software?
For certain, good software developers with experience in web development technologies are required. However when it comes to product management, it being a finance service, the team must include experts in financial and banking services.

Apart from the actual development, strategic relationships with financial institutions are neededin order to offer a certain level of integration between the personal financial software and the financial institutions themselves. This will allow users to import their account balances, mortrages etc, from their bank. If users have bank accounts with multiple banks then it should allow them to import them all their data and therefore combine all their accounts.

I do not really know how much time and effort it takes to build these relationships but, relationships being relationships, it probably takes lots. According to their site, Mvelopes, a hosted personal finance software services, supports 12,968 financial institutions; Microsoft Money also supports thousands of institutions.

So should Google build or buy? Offhand I would say buy, especially if there are acquisition targets that have a good hosted solution with the proper relationships set up. That way, Google should have a faster time-to-market and give it enough breathing space to tighter the service with its other offerings more tightly.

As a small note, maybe Google should look at Mvelopes.com!

Monetizing the service

How can this service be monetized, always keeping in mind that typically Google doesn’t charge the end-user? I see three possible ways.

Plain Old Advertising

Google can continue building on the advertising concept.
Now by that I do not mean putting up AdSense ads on the service. A personal finance service would typically be something very private and I doubt end users would like to see ugly white ad boxes near their financial statement.

Google can offer integrated links within the service itself from where they can offer targeted services. They could open these links to thousands of financial institutions such as insurance agencies, etc. Financial institutions would then bid to place link text ads within the user’s session.
Google could be paid per click, or else, per quote! Google could create standard forms where end-users can submit their query which would be sent to the financial agency in order to generate quotes etc. Google could potentially also get paid by quotes – quotes should cost more than clicks to the financial institutions since an end-user filling up a quote form would indicate immediate interest.
Although this could generate revenue for Google I do believe that implementing such a system could mean a lot of revenue opportunities lost.

Reselling Services

Another way for Google to actually generate revenue would be on a commission basis.
Google can build strategic partnerships with a handful of financial institutions – based on geography and type of services.

They would not just get paid on a pay-per-quote but they could resell the financial services themselves, still keeping the financial institution brand, and then get a thin slice from the sale. Essentially, Google would act as sub-agents for the financial firms. An advantage of working with commission is that Google would have the actual data and could then track interest into these services.

This intelligence would be needed in order to build a strategic plan to move to the next level of monetizing this service.

Google itself being the financial institution

And what if Google had to take it a step further and aquire a financial institution and provide the services themselves effectively building a full-blown financial services division within Google?
How would Google go about aquiring a financial institution? Would it buy a large institution or a smaller one?

I am quite confident that aquiring a large financial institution would be prohibitatively expensive. Such a company would also most likely have a lot of fat and beaurocracy. The price would probably include a brick and mortar reseller network and also the actual brand!

Staff integration from an HR aspect could be a challenge and probably it would lack the business agility that Google would need in order to start selling the service through online means.

One other strategic disadvantage would be that Google will risk pissing off the other big institutions - and these are enemies you wouldn’t want – at least till you are ready to take them head-on.
Maybe a smaller financial institution would be something that Google should consider in this case. The acquisition cost would be cheaper and therefore Google will be mitigating the risk in case the whole strategy goes bad.

If paying for a small institution they should concentrate on buying a firm which has a lean and agile management team; it should be a management team that is easier to sell the Google philosophy to, eager to take risks and ready to live on the edge.

The reseller network would probably be much smaller than the bigger financial institutions but that should not be an issue since the long-term strategy would be to sell online anyway.

Back office operations would also probably be easier to integrate with the new Google personal finance service – this is obviously criticalto the success of the whole project.

A smaller firm would also allow Google to stay under the radar and therefore not to cause panic in the financial industry. This would give Google more breathing space and allow them to test the new service without having to spend too much time on competitors.

Next

So will we be seeing any related news any time soon? I do hope so, as I still need to get back control of my own finances.

Credits

Thanks to Angelica Micallef Trigona for her editing skills