harlekins spirit

Harlekin.blog presents the “Contributions of the Year“

Dear readers, this year, too, the Harlekin.blog team is saying goodbye for the summer holidays. Last summer we bridged this time with “our favourites” – this year we would like to present the Harlekin “contributions of the year” to you once again.

Can you hear me? I can’t hear you!

International Conference Calls

In international companies, the Conference Call is the easiest way to hold meetings with participants from different countries. Depending on the company’s policy, this is done as a video call (with web cams) or audio only. Both have pros and cons.

Product placement with influencers – how does it work?

Due to the current debate about TikTok and its potential misuse for spying purposes, countless TikTok fans are expressing their concern on TV. And my generation should not make fun of young people’s despair at the thought of a possible TikTok ban. Many of my peers would have felt similarly in the past if they had been deprived of Bravo magazine.

The forgotten blockchain of the Middle Ages

The Tally

For all those who do not yet have Bitcoins and do not program themselves on a laptop: the blockchain is a form of digital documentation of the ownership and transfer of assets, but in addition to monetary values, these can also authenticate rights to pictures, land ownership or even cows. And that’s exactly what our forefathers had the tally for – only as analog documentation.

For thousands of years the central tool of “accounting”, the term tally is today only known through the phrases “keeping tally”, meaning noting the score or amount and “tallying up”, meaning totalling up a number of items, or to “tally”, meaning to agree with another statement.

Outsourcing or Hollowing Out?

Thanks to the likes of General Motors, Maggie Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 80’s transferring internal or public services to external contractors has been regarded as progressive and above all cost-saving. Anything that does not belong to the core business is regarded as ballast that would be better in the hands of “specialists” who are reputedly cheaper and deliver better quality. It sounds temptingly logical, especially when senior management has a focus on short-term profits.

The fairy tale of predictability

Once upon a time there was a great king who had ruled his country for many years. He also had a beautiful daughter, who grew up with frogs and dwarves, but that is completely irrelevant to this story.

The king had learned to protect his kingdom successfully against invaders and raids and had fought many a battle. He had a big, strong army, so nobody dared to attack; there was peace in his country for a long time.

How to ruin Christmas Eve

Christmas at last. Every year at the same time, 12 whole months to prepare for the next attempt and reflect on the last one, yet the same things happen each year. Let’s look at it from a different perspective today. Let’s approach it from an IT professional‘s point of view….

A Ray of Hope

Some time ago we published various articles on digitisation and its sometimes grotesque excesses – e.g. Digital Na(t)ive or Digital Punk. I found myself at this point again when I was on my way to and back from my summer holiday. This time, however, I can report on positive examples – but you can only appreciate them if you have also experienced the disasters.

Detours, aberrations and remedies

To mark the the release of the second edition of “The Crazy PMPprep” (a novel about preparing for PMP and CAPM certification), we are publishing an excerpt from the book this week. This concerns Change Control. You witness a discussion between the (reluctant) project manager Henri and his patient and coach Peter Pomosch. The “Riemann” mentioned in passing is the director of the psychiatric clinic and initiator of the project “Concert performance with patients as musicians”.

Security in uncertain situations

With ROLAND Protection Cover, you can sit back and relax even in the event of an accident. We ensure you enjoy extra security and convenience. * – Years ago I took out ROLAND Protection Cover in conjunction with comprehensive insurance for our new car. This month our car broke down 2000 kms from home. The message “gearbox malfunction” appeared on the display and we were advised to visit the nearest garage. With jerking, rev fluctuations and a speed of about 40 kph we made it to the nearest town.