In between 109 canned press releases, 18 product pitches and two offers to buy Viagra at a special 20 percent discounted rate, I found a goldmine of feisty feedback.
I could hardly contain my delight as I clicked open my mail from readers bemoaning our "ageist" coverage of life in IT.
A snippet of the fiery fanfare appears in Computerworld [Australia] magazine's Forum section on page 17 (October 25, 2006).
Do I need to even reference these stories? I know you read them.
And I know you squirmed in your seat when Gartner analyst Mark Raskino described senior IT managers as "middle-aged, sedan-driving, middle-income, middle-class, middle-of-the-road, midlife-crisis, mid-sized managers, who carry a little bit too much weight around their middles".
Mediocrity, is it so bad? It's only adolescents that have a profound fear of the ordinary, clutching to that youthful dream of being special.
The article pointed to the consumerization of IT and how the tech agenda is being driven by a younger generation questioning whether IT professionals are up to the challenge of the digital age, particularly unified communications.
When it comes to new means of collaboration, Gartner believes older IT managers need help.
What an insult! As one reader rightfully pointed out, many of the midlife characters Gartner refers to were using the Internet when today's generation was still learning the alphabet.
Technology is technology and Computerworld readers have been implementing it for decades.
The other story that created a firestorm was entitled Grey hairs slowing convergence uptake, which appeared on October 4, 2006. Mention grey hairs and not surprisingly, there is a revolt.
While grey hair is one of the joys of aging, the other is developing a great sense of humor.
Despite the sensitivity surrounding age, readers relied on humor to make their point in every single letter that I received.
The message is clear - humor improves with age.
There was a bit of confusion in the IT security industry this week following an announcement by the Department of Defence that government agencies are no longer required to buy products from the Defence Signals Directorate's (DSD) approved product list (EPL).
Products on the list have completed an evaluation and meet international certification standards ensuring agencies have a definitive product reference when purchasing from IT security vendors.
Keen to ensure they are on the list, which was established more than a decade ago, many vendors spent as much as half a million dollars going through the evaluation process. They all wanted the coveted DSD stamp of approval.
But now the term "DSD approved product" has been dropped. This means government agencies can now buy from vendors that aren't included on the list. However, agencies who do not buy from the EPL must document why. Put simply, government departments are still expected to buy from the list they just have greater flexibility.
That is, they can buy from vendors not on the list if it is necessary to meet their business requirements.
Department insiders said the change was made because agencies were buying products that didn't meet their requirements.
According to AGIMO, agencies will now be able to choose a product based on need rather than sticking with the list, just for the list's sake.
Spooked by old age? Send e-mails to sandra_rossi@idg.com.au