Technology sucks

Technology and I did not get along very well today. First, my alarm didn't go off and I over slept. Then, I couldn't get a wireless connection at school. And finally, class confused me.



I get the whole thing about service-oriented architecture and breaking things up into components. The stereo analogy is a good one. It seems to me that another advantage of the separate service components is that if something "breaks" (like when my receiver stopped working), you can just fix or replace that component without having to overhaul the whole system. Also, you can target your resources (i.e., I put a lot more money into my speakers than I did each individual component).

But then when we had to do that whole modular analysis thing, I got confused. I think part of my confusion stems from the use of the terms "competency." Supposedly, the competencies are the column headers, but isn't competency (by the business school definition) supposed to be something that differentiates you -- something you do better than (at least most) others? So, how exactly is "Treasury" a competency of the Finance department? Doesn't EVERY Finance department have to do those functions?? I think that, in this case, these competencies are really just functional areas.

Anyway, it will be fascinating to see what I manage to come up with for this assignment...

Luckily technology and I will end the day on a good note. I'm going to go turn on my TV -- it's time for Burn Notice!