How the investment banks got into the mess they are in today

If you want a technical reason why the investment banks got us all into so much trouble then this is an excellent read:

Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-03/wp_quant

Basically the people using the mathematical models for investment risk didn't understand them and how they would behave under all circumstances.

The weak link was that the level of mortgage risk was based on only 10 years of what amounts to a property boom, when that started to go south, the risks suddenly became obvious. From there it was a downward spiral in confidence.

I suspect the problem is now that they don't have any trust worthy models to help them understand what they've got on their asset sheets. That leads to a massive risk adverse culture - for the moment at least.

The rest will be history...

Moving a Virtual Server VM to Hyper-v

If you have a virtual machine in Virtual Server 2005 and you want to move it to Hyper-v on Windows 2008 you need to perform these steps *before* you move the vhd.

* This was on the RC0 to Hyper-v update and may change.

1. Uninstall the VM additions


2. Install the Windows Update for KB949219 - for Windows 2008


3. Run MSCONFIG and on the boot tab under advanced options tick 'Detect HAL'.

You can then shutdown the VM, copy across the VHD disk to the Hyper-v and create a new virtual machine there.

The server should then start normally - with a network!

We're hiring, VB.Net ASP.Net in Cheltenham, UK

We’re looking for a VB.Net ASP.Net SQL 2005 developer, in Cheltenham.

If you’re interested in joining us drop me a CV.

No agencies please.

N95 great camera, but faulty

Well, the camera’s nice and the phone seems pretty good – but this one is faulty and has got to go back. It’s nearly a week now and O2 still haven’t been able to get a replacement shipped to the right address.

Efficient as ever!

Will the iPhone be too complex?

Inspired by Robert Scoble’s experience with the Nokia N95 I ordered mine yesterday.

The better iPhone: Nokia N95? « Scobleizer.

The conversation that I had with O2 was quite interesting, he had an obvious script. He said:

“We've had a lot of returns for this phone, people find it too complex…” etc.

I found his odd as the Nokia is supposed to be pretty good, but then it does have a lot of features. I wonder if the iPhone will fall into this trap?

Your standard Nokia is a very simple device, dial the number, press green, press red to stop…

O2’s web site is not great, maybe if they added some more detail they would save pain later!

He also went on to explain (without prompting) that the GPS software had to be bought from Nokia, a great business idea by Nokia, but obviously another point of pain for O2.

Again no mention of this on the O2 site, but I had seen this described elsewhere so it wasn’t an issue.

What will Microsoft do after Zune?

Zune marks a significant change of direction for Microsoft. Traditionally Microsoft has supplied the operating system and the application to customers and has left it to partners and ISV’s to innovate.

The existing media partners are a good example of this. For example Napster. Microsoft produce the software platform, the Plays For Sure DRM, and Napster produced a store. Other partners produce the hardware, for example Creative.

The problem with this is that you get design by committee – worse the committee never meets! Each company puts their own spin on their part in the chain. The links between them can be a bit flaky to say the least.

Apple has made this problem acutely clear. They have produced a better overall experience because they own the entire product chain –  the software platform, the store and the hardware - they make make the necessary changes to make the whole thing run smoothly.

This is what Microsoft has done with Zune - they are producing a new platform that they own from end to end.

Time will tell if this works for Microsoft. If it does then there are other markets where this model could work…

Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile has the same problem as Plays For Sure. The operating system software is Microsoft’s and it is tailored by the hardware manufacturers to suit their hardware. Then the networks make their own changes and deliver the service.

The are lots of fantastic features in these phones – but try and talk to the networks about them! They typically only care about minutes and texts. A few have recently started taking data tariffs seriously…

So what if Microsoft became an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator)? Then they could have the same power over the supply chain as Apple and Zune now have over the music space.

A mobile phone that work seamlessly with it’s network – ie it actually delivers on it’s promises could make a big difference.

Could this be the start of a new tactic for Microsoft? An end-to-end supplier.

The IT Crowd

Superb…watch it online now…