There’s this idea floating around in people’s minds regarding oil that I feel compelled to dispel:  That if we just drill more oil, build more renewable/nuclear power plants, and sell more energy efficient vehicles we’ll be able to go back to Business as Usual (BAU).  It is a myth.  We’ve reached Peak Oil.  All that stuff, if done 10-30 years ago could have made a difference but now it is too late.

As a nation (the USA for foreign readers) we need to stop looking for scapegoats and place the blame where it belongs: US.  Speculators are not the cause of high oil prices.  The oil companies/countries are not consipiring to make our lives miserable (Hint: You don’t intentionally destroy your biggest customer).  The Man is not trying to keep you down.  It’s not THEM it’s US.

WE did not prepare for Peak Oil.  WE ignored the warning signs.  WE did not want to change our lifestyles.  WE did not want to hear about all that “tree hugger BS”.  WE thought the market would save us.  WE thought (think?) the government could fix everything.  WE only paid attention to people/media that only told us what we wanted to hear.  WE ignored the gas mileage sticker when WE bought our horribly gas-inefficient vehicles.  WE blame everyone else while WE stare at the price on the pump instead of the gallons.

Still want someone to blame other than yourself?  If you must, take your pick:  The guy driving that giant SUV, the people who made that giant SUV, or the government that didn’t bother to regulate the efficiency of that giant SUV.  How about the airline industry?  How about the everything-shipped-from-far-far-away consumer marketplace (where were your shoes made?  Where were those Apples grown?)?

An economy based on the consumption of fixed resources will consume itself…  and WE have one hell of an appetite for irreplaceable fossil energy.

We’ve all heard the term, “Best Practices” but what they entail tends to vary from person to person.  Especially in the realm of Information Technology (IT).  I’ve been involved in IT for a while now and I’ve decided to share a few of my own, “Best Practices”:

1. Non-technical people should never be allowed to make technical decisions.
2. Never buy anything from a vendor that doesn’t offer their product documentation for free to the public.
3. Before you solicit bids or start looking for an off-the-shelf solution always ask your existing IT staff what it would cost in time and resources to DIY.
4. The only ‘investment’ you can make in Information Technology is hiring or training technical workers. All else is just expense.
5. Big IT mistake: Taking market market research into consideration when making IT decisions.
   Bigger IT mistake: Making decisions and then using market research to justify them.
   Market research is nothing more than documented hearsay.
6. To solve problems with proprietary software you have to spend time and money.  To solve problems with free software you only have to spend time.
7. Making things easier for management is usually the opposite of making things easier for workers.  Management would do well to remember this when they want improved productivity.
8. If you use a trouble ticket system as a blame thrower you will get burned.
9. Having someone to blame is not an effective IT strategy.
10. Migration is always an option.
11. Just because something works doesn’t mean it is the best solution.
12. Quality of implementation is always more important than quality of software.

I will add more as time goes on.