Staff Bytes
OIT Book Club: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley: 384 pages, Delacorte Press, 2009 (ISBN: 0385342306)
This month, the OIT Book Club reviews The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley:
Set in the British village of Buckshaw in the 1950's, Sweetness is a creative, amusing, intriguing, fun read that follows the exploits of Flavia de Luce, an 11-year-old Miss Marple-esque, aspiring Chemist with an obsession for poisons. Flavia works to solve a murder for which her own father stands accused. For Flavia, finding the dying man in a cucumber patch, when murder had never come to sleepy Buckshaw, was a revelation. "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life," she said.
Flavia's father is an eccentric philatelist, who is not overly involved in his children’s lives, and is accused of the murder of someone from his past (a former schoolmate who was interested in stamps but really only for their monetary value). The other central characters are Flavia's older sisters, Daphne and Ophelia, who tease and torment Flavia, and Harriet, Flavia's deceased mother, who is referred to throughout the book.
Sweetness is the first in a series of Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley, the fourth of which is due out this November. Our club enjoyed this work and would encourage anyone to pick it up for some light, end-of-summer reading. For more information about the Book Club, contact Christina Mazzella.
- Camille Hyatt, Accountant, IT F&A
24 Hours of Booty Bike Ride
Felicia and her buddy Ron get ready for the 24 Hours of Booty bike ride, which raises funds for cancer research.
On October 1-2, 425 riders rode the 24 Hours of Booty bike ride at Stone Mountain. I was one of them! The event raised funds for cancer research and programs through LIVESTRONG (of the Lance Armstrong Foundation) and the Aflac Cancer Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the local beneficiary.
We had a 4-mile, closed-loop course and rode with riders of all levels and abilities. The event is organized each year to raise vital funds for cancer research and survivorship. Riders are sponsored to ride continuously for 24 hours, either solo or on teams, with some biking as much as 400 miles in a single day!
I wanted to do something different and riding loops at Stone Mountain for a good cause seemed worthwhile, plus I got to see one of my favorite cycling celebrities, Bob “Bobkie” Roll, who pumped us up with exciting stories.
I rode a total of 80 hard and cold miles. However, every time I wanted to stop I thought of my friends Joe, who was doing 270 miles, and Jim, who nearly reached 400 miles, with his brother counting his laps for him in the cold. They were an inspiration for me to keep fighting, just like cancer survivors.
At the start, there were a lot of riders but as the temperatures dropped and it got dark there were fewer of us out there. I took breaks to nap and get warm but it was so super being out there on the course seeing Joe and Jim go by in the pitch dark with blinkies and headlamps. There were survivors of all types of cancer riding the course, people riding for those who had passed on and people like me, riding in honor of survivors that we know.
It was a super time and I hope that many of you come out and ride or volunteer next year. Maybe we can create a UTS team!
- Felicia Bianchi, Project Manager, PMO
Interesting Numbers From BTS
It's all in the numbers...especially when reviewing the the significant effort during BTS/FAW.
This incoming freshman class is the biggest class to date and the brightest one with incoming scores setting a Emory new high. It is a class for whom the Internet has always existed and 'online' meant only one thing (see the full list: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/). They began during Emory's 175th anniversary of the chartering of Emory College (1836) and will graduate in Emory University's 100th year anniversary of being chartered, back in 1915.
The ResNet Stats: for laptops and PCs - Macs continue to hold sway and increase their hold with 53% of the OS population with Windows at 47%, Linux and assorted at .3%.
|
ResNet OS Trend '08-'11 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
Macs |
29% |
45% |
52% |
53% |
|
Windows |
71% |
55% |
48% |
47% |
An interesting number: Registered on ResNet - Phones and Tablets totaled 2110! This breaks down to 1406 iPhones, 377 iPads, 286 Android phones, 35 Blackberrys, 4 web OS, 1 Windows phone and 1 Rim Playbook.
The Counts
- 5000 people were received at the Woodruff PE Center for tours and to meet the Emory business offices (ie. UTS)
- 1000 CDs with Emory OnLine (EOL), 1/5 of prior years, largely for Grad & Professional Schools
- 2000 lanyards, badge holders, cards and "EOLed" flash drives
- 1750 mousepads for the classrooms, libraries, kiosks and Computing Center
- 1500 pens
- 680 assorted Jolly Ranchers (really!)
There were 75 dedicated Team Members - all Res. Halls and services were covered including Cable TV, Security, Data Engineering, Wireless Architects, Multi-Media and Class Tech. Of the team, 11 were students from Student Tech Support (formerly known as the Clean Room) and Cox Hall Computing Center; 11 from Emory College and 4 from the Library; of note overall, 25 new teammates!
Additionally, there were binders and boxes with instructions, rosters, general information, tech tips, tape, pens, pads, tech sheets, rosters, tech'ing tips, call lists, lanyards with flash drives, handouts for students, maps, tech-tip sheets, schedules, easels, signs and, yes, even band-aids!
But wait, there's more! Here are some fun facts from the hot and thirsty weekend that included: 456 soft drinks, 249 bottles of water, 10 gallons of coffee, 6 gallons of orange juice, and 4 gallons of tea.
Back-To-School was a tremendous effort...with tremendous results!
Toastmasters Unplugged: R.E.A.L.
"The Toastmaster" is from the first issue of the Toastmaster magazine, published in April, 1933.
The following speech excerpts were presented to Toastmasters Unplugged, OIT's toastmaster club, in September. For more information about Toastmasters Unplugged, contact Lamar Kelly.
We live in an instant gratification world. Everything is at our fingertips, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Internet, Inflation, the "I" phase is where we live yet we have forgotten about the "me." We want things fast. Sometimes we forget that we have to work hard for what the "me" wants. It's important that the "I" reassess and define what the "want" is in terms of our value. That is the re-establishment to find the REAL you. Reconnection, Empowering, Affirming and Love.
In the story of Pinocchio, he was attached by strings. These strings held him back him from becoming REAL. In order for Pinocchio to become a real boy he had to reconnect to his principles, feel empowered to cut the strings, affirm that his principles were genuine and love - he had to love himself first and then he could love others.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, "reconnection" is defined as reestablishing a bond of communication or emotion. Reconnecting with ourselves is tough at times due to the fact that we are constantly changing and evolving. It is the ability to look at yourself and see if you are content with the person that maybe you once were, are, or on the path to be. Our past often guides our future, meaning you and only you have the ability to mold and shape your desires and destiny.
Ayn Rand once said "A rational man is guided by his thinking - by a process of Reason - not by his feelings and desires.
Many times we allow our feelings to make decisions that our mind and brain should be making. The reconnection is the ability to reconnect with the mind and deciphering your desires of what you want and where you want to go, it's about your choices.
What is forgotten is that with personal face to face communication the non-verbal communication exists. Whether you realize it or not we learn from non-verbal communication as well. One of the key ways we use nonverbal communication is as a support and complement of verbal communication. While conversing with my boss he would tell me, "Wait, I'm processing what you are saying," then he would explain how he processes things. Watching him think, act, and process are valuable to me because in the end when I make decisions that affect my department that might require my bosses backing he will understand why I did what I did.
The key to reconnecting with others is communication. Approaching the person in a non-threatening manner, let them know you believe there is a disconnect and state the reasons, then talk and watch them. Provide them examples of how to communicate with you and you will be amazed at the dialogue that occurs.
"Empowerment" is defined as To Equip or supply with an ability. TODAY, EACH ONE OF YOU IS EMPOWERED. Empowered to make a change in your life, because all you have control of is yourself. Although empowerment comes from multiple sources, it most importantly should come from within you because in order to change, the desire has to be there.
"Affirm" is to declare positively or firmly, maintain to be true. Once you are empowered to change yourself then affirm that change so that it is true. Affirmation is key to upholding your empowerment. If you say I am empowered to make a change but do not have positivity, then how likely is that empowered state going to last? Probably not long.
Once you have affirmed your change, love yourself for it. This is where you get to be selfish. Love yourself first and then you can love others. Don't become the victim in life because you have the ability to change whatever you don't like about your situation.
Pinocchio released his strings and he became a real boy. He went through trials and made some bad judgements but in the end he did Reconnect to who he wanted to be and he was empowered to change so he did and affirmed it by telling the truth and then he loved himself for who he was so that he could love his father.
Reconnecting, empowering, affirming and loving.
If you don't value yourself then you end up holding on to the strings that bind you and entrap you to be Pinocchio. After all, aren't we all wanting to be the REAL person that resides within us?
- Christina Mazzella, Division HR Director, IT F&A
Mark Eisert - Iron Man!
Mark "Ironman" Eisert celebrates completion of his first half-ironman triathlon.
Congratulations to Applications Lead Developer Mark Eisert (Integration), who recently competed in the ESi Ironman 70.3 in Augusta, Georgia on September 24th. For those that don't know, that's a half Ironman triathlon comprised of a 1.2-mile swim, 65-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run, adding up to 70.3 total miles. Throw in the hot and humid weather of 77 degrees at the start time of 7:30 a.m. and this is a pretty exhausting event!
Even more impressive was the fact that a week and a half earlier, Mark had an accident while training on his bike, was badly cut and bruised, and didn't know if he'd even be able to compete. He'd hit his jaw on the concrete and he couldn't even chew. After checking with his doctor and letting his wounds heal, he decided to take on the challenge anyway.
Mark completed the course in remarkable time of 5 hours and 26 minutes. Out of 3,000 well conditioned athletes from all over the world, Mark came in a very respectable 603rd place. Again, congrats to our own UTS department super athlete, Mark Eisert.
Link to the race results: http://ironman.com/events/ironman70.3/augusta70.3/?show=tracker&race=augusta70.3&year=2011#axzz1ZHIp5nKQ
- Garrett Southwell, Applications Dev/Analyst, Lead, Enterprise Applications