Mark McDonald

A Member of The Gartner Blog Network

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Entries Tagged as 'Fun'

Killer Bathtubs one of the challenges of multi city international travel

October 4th, 2009 · 1 Comment

Time out for a little personal observation posting.  I have been travelling on one of those forced marches through Europe – you know 10 cities in 7 days kind of things — and this time I am really noticing the challenge posed by the bathtub/shower complex present in many hotels.
I will refer to them as [...]

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Tags: Fun · Personal Observation

Living with electronic medical records – a view from the patient’s perspective

July 13th, 2009 · 4 Comments

Electronic medical records are a central element in the transformation of the healthcare system.  Replacing paper with electronic records reduces errors, increases information sharing and is expected to make the medicine more efficient. 
Look at the web and you will see that the issue of electronic medical records is described as largely a technology problem.  Wikipedia’s [...]

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Tags: Fun · Personal Observation

Its Fajita day — when you know its time to stop something and start something else

June 12th, 2009 · No Comments

A short post
As I attend conferences a few patterns emerge.  One is that on the last day of a multi-day event the conference planners inevitably serve Fajitas to the attendees, particularly in the U.S.  Its quick, its easy, and it gives you something to do with the roast and chicken served at the inevitable gala [...]

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Tags: Fun · Personal Observation

Let there be light! – Why are business hotel rooms so dark

April 15th, 2009 · 6 Comments

This entry is a personal observation and pet peeve.  Why are hotel rooms at business hotels so dark and poorly lit?  I would think that hotel managers would look to make their rooms more attractive to business travelers who need to be more productive on the road.  However lately this does not seem to be [...]

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Tags: Fun · Personal Observation

The new myth of the CIO – part 3 – CIO of the future

March 10th, 2009 · No Comments

This is the last of three blog entries regarding the future of the CIO.  These are based on a discussion with a dozen CIOs at the recent Gartner CIO Leadership Forum.  Those discussions recognized that much has changed for CIOs and IT in the past 10 years.  That is good news, as change requires adjustment [...]

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Tags: CIO · Fun · Leadership

Death By Powerpoint — Tech is holding the gun

February 25th, 2009 · No Comments

“How did he die?” the audience is huddled over an executive wearing a business suit and clutching a wireless mouse.  ”His brain exploded, at first we thought it was as stroke, but know we know better.”
“It was death by powerpoint.”
You hear the term a lot; you have probably had your life shortened by a particularly [...]

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Tags: CIO · Fun · Personal Observation

Which U.S. Presidents would make good CIOs?

February 16th, 2009 · 1 Comment

A little holiday hypothesis given that today is President’s Day in the U.S. also known as a bank holiday outside the U.S.  Now to the question.
The President is a leader of the country (Head of State) of their political party, and more often than not of the people.  CIOs are also leaders in their enterprise, [...]

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Tags: CIO · Fun

Tweet Home and 99 times out of 100 its no big deal

February 13th, 2009 · 1 Comment

Twitter, Facebook and other social computing platforms are filled with people’s activities, what is going on with their lives.  Most of it is interesting and often you get to see the routine pace of others.
Yesterday the routine became the extraordinary in a simple way.
A friend of mine from College and I had just reconnected via [...]

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Tags: Fun · Personal Observation · Uncategorized · web 2.0