04 November 2002

Knee injury threatens Gough's tour. [Google Top Stories] Oh dear:  the Ashes series starts in three days, and while one injured Yorkshireman (Vaughan) comes good, another one, England's key bowler, limps off.  One has to question the wisdom of taking so many injured and suspect players on a very tough tour, but I suppose England does not have the depth to leave them behind.  More injuries will only disrupt them further, and those bloody Aussies will pounce on any sign of weakness.  Vaughan, Trescothick, Butcher and Hussain are a very respectable top order, if they're all fit and firing, but I doubt that England has the lower order batting or a bowling attack to really trouble the rampant Ausssies at home.  The result could be humiliating (let's hope not as much so as Pakistan's recent capitulations), but I guess the Poms are used to it by now, and will salvage something out of a heroic, brave defeat (see my comments ealier this year about Tim Henman and Colin Montgomerie, not to mention the Soccer World Cup at the beginning of this summer). How different to the South African reaction to losing, when captains, coaches and selectors are routinely fired for losing once to a clearly better team, and it is treated as a national disgrace.  Maybe we need a few Dunkirks in our history (although we did have Tobruk). 9:10:29 PM    comment []

Extract from Robert Bryce's new book about Enron. Robert Bryce on the greed, sex and arrogance that led to Enron's downfall. [Guardian Unlimited] Classic Greek Tragedy stuff.  Excessive pride (hubris) leads to a massive fall.  But it must have been lots of fun while it lasted! 8:11:55 PM    comment []

What IT's really for. Internet news: Companies that think IT's key purpose is to cut costs are being short-sighted, says James Woudhuysen. [Guardian Unlimited] Strange to think that in 2002 one would still read about businesses/organizations who believe that the only virtue of IT is to reduce costs - the focus on RROI - "rapid ROI" probably a hangover from the dotcom boom.  I suppose it keeps consultants and IBM marketing reps in business, and widens the gap between those who are successfully transforming, even with 5-10 year projects, and their competitors who are wedded to RROI. And, it has been proven in the past, that the best time to make strategic, transforming investments is in a time of recession as we have now.  The next boom can't be too far away guys! 7:46:22 PM    comment []