IT acronyms/jargon

[JoC]

Can anyone help me out with...
CAG
ALO
'soft grid'
?
I think I'm managing to bluff it so far but they're going to find me out soon.

[Graham]

Any chance of a clue from the context?

[Dreadful Scathe]

indeed, context in IT is important. CAG does sound vaguely familiar though

[David Franklin]

Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe

indeed, context in IT is important. CAG does sound vaguely familiar though

The one that sprang to mind is Computer Aided Geometry (more commonly, Computer Aided Geometrical Design = CAGD). Don't know if that's the right expansion of the acronym here though.

[JoC]

General Context: corporate GIS
CAG explanation above sounds about right thanks! (Reference to keeping sweet architects.)
ALO ref, meeting agenda item: "Mapping Services Agreement and the ALO role", probably some terribly obvious job 'title', liaison officer maybe of some description, I'll probably just have to ask.

Sometimes it seems to me that I(S/C/X)T people speak in acronyms all through meetings that change from one meeting to the next (possibly to make themselves sound clever and mysterious..the dark art thing), insert an extra 'S' or something then scoff at the idiot from another department who didn't know that IFHT has changed to IFSTH as early as yesterday. Sometimes I do ask but I didn't have the strength today. Of course they are probably reading so in that case I love and worship them all.

Wish I chaired the meeting, you can get away with actually no contribution simply by sounding decisive as you say 'right, good, next item' I find...is it time to go home yet?

Any ideas about the other one?

(I know the rest of them have secret meetings without me, it's a conspiracy!!!)

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by JoC

General Context: corporate GIS
CAG explanation above sounds about right thanks! (Reference to keeping sweet architects.)
ALO ref, meeting agenda item: "Mapping Services Agreement and the ALO role", probably some terribly obvious job 'title', liaison officer maybe of some description, I'll probably just have to ask.

Sometimes it seems to me that I(S/C/X)T people speak in acronyms all through meetings that change from one meeting to the next (possibly to make themselves sound clever and mysterious..the dark art thing), insert an extra 'S' or something then scoff at the idiot from another department who didn't know that IFHT has changed to IFSTH as early as yesterday. Sometimes I do ask but I didn't have the strength today. Of course they are probably reading so in that case I love and worship them all.

Wish I chaired the meeting, you can get away with actually no contribution simply by sounding decisive as you say 'right, good, next item' I find...is it time to go home yet?

Any ideas about the other one?

(I know the rest of them have secret meetings without me, it's a conspiracy!!!)

Or, you can play the intelligent idiot, demand that people say what they mean and not stop asking them until they explain. Then they realise that you won't stand for any bull****, which is what most of them know that they talking.

My favourite phrase for technical meetings? "I'm sorry, I didn't follow that, I must be having an idiot day, today. Could you explain it so I could understand it, please?"

[ducasi]

Originally Posted by JoC

Any ideas about the other one?

Soft grid? In the context, sounds like a map grid that can be moved around?

Originally Posted by JoC

... possibly to make themselves sound clever and mysterious..the dark art thing ...

Sometimes – especially if they are salesmen and don't actually know what they're talking about... But when I use them, it's usually because I want to be precise without being wordy.

E.g., "RAM"... why say "RAM" when "memory" will do? Well most of the time I'll say memory, but when you want to distinguish RAM from ROM, VRAM, NVRAM, VM, cache, etc... but don't want to have to say "random access memory" all the time, the acronym is handy.

[JoC]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

Or, you can play the intelligent idiot, demand that people say what they mean and not stop asking them until they explain. Then they realise that you won't stand for any bull****, which is what most of them know that they talking.

My favourite phrase for technical meetings? "I'm sorry, I didn't follow that, I must be having an idiot day, today. Could you explain it so I could understand it, please?"

That's a double bluff I do enjoy, profess idiocy and a need to have everything explained in Mickey Mouse terms so all the other bluffers suspect that you are in fact, clever... wasn't on form today though, and also find meetings with serious tone impossible to deal with, I require flippancy at all times to optimise performance otherwise I drift off...

[Lou]

Originally Posted by JoC

Can anyone help me out with...
CAG
ALO
'soft grid'

Are you sure you weren't at a US Air Force meeting?

An ALO is an Air Liason Officer, and CAG is short for COEA Advisory Group. And they'd definitely use a soft grid system

Sorry - that probably didn't help at all, did it?!

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by JoC

That's a double bluff I do enjoy, profess idiocy and a need to have everything explained in Mickey Mouse terms so all the other bluffers suspect that you are in fact, clever... wasn't on form today though, and also find meetings with serious tone impossible to deal with, I require flippancy at all times to optimise performance otherwise I drift off...

It's not meant to be a bluff at all... I just keep asking until I understand what I'm being told. Then I can stop asking!

[DavidB]

Cag Alo could also be an Indian dish made from potato and spinach, assuming one of the forum spelling champions wrote the menu.

[bigdjiver]

I used to attend a lot of British Computer Society meetings, and learned at lot. Indeed, one on Jackson Structured Programming dramatically changed my career for the better. Such is the shelf life of acronyms JSP means something else now.

If I did not know I always asked.

One lecturer was showing his knowledge by referring to many names and acronyms that I did not know, and was obviously beyond most of his audience. I soon had enough, and, pen poised over notebook, innocently asked "How do you spell "Dijkstra"

[JoC]

Originally Posted by DavidB

Cag Alo could also be an Indian dish made from potato and spinach, assuming one of the forum spelling champions wrote the menu.

Reminds me I'm well overdue for going out for indulging in a sumptuous indian meal...

Originally Posted by ESG

It's not meant to be a bluff at all... I just keep asking until I understand what I'm being told. Then I can stop asking!

I've just exposed myself then haven't I?

Originally Posted by Lou

Are you sure you weren't at a US Air Force meeting?

In future to make the meetings more fun, I shall definitely pretend I'm at a US Airforce Meeting, or I may crack a joke to that effect (and watch it sink like a lead balloon and hopefully be banished from the working group forever...)

[JoC]

Originally Posted by ducasi

Soft grid? In the context, sounds like a map grid that can be moved around?

I asked, and apparently...(what appear to me to be the key facts picked out from much longer answer)

"Softgrid is the generic name for a bunch of servers that rather than just hold data like your servers over in the exciting and sexy department actually hold the applications as well. *snip*
The advantage is that PCs don't need to be upgraded and really old machines can be used to run modern software. It also makes administration a lot easier because there is only ever one copy of an application.

The problem with it is that for really demanding applications like ArcGIS or AutoCad, Softgrid can't handle the processing demand. So instead the software can either be installed locally on the machine, as it is on your machines or there is a half way house called 'Sequencing'." (detailed explanation of that followed).

But I expect you all knew that!

[killingtime]

Originally Posted by JoC

"Softgrid is the generic name for a bunch of servers that rather than just hold data like your servers over in the exciting and sexy department actually hold the applications as well. *snip*
The advantage is that PCs don't need to be upgraded and really old machines can be used to run modern software. It also makes administration a lot easier because there is only ever one copy of an application.

They are just making that up. If someone said "grid computing" to me in a general computing context I'd take that to mean lots of machines distributing load over them (ie grid computing) which generally works under the concept of having lots of not overly powerful machines to do the work.

*sigh* maybe I just haven't kept with the times. I remember back in the old days where you had a big server and lots of dumb terminals being hosted off that... oh that's just like this is .

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by killingtime

They are just making that up. If someone said "grid computing" to me in a general computing context I'd take that to mean lots of machines distributing load over them (ie grid computing) which generally works under the concept of having lots of not overly powerful machines to do the work.

*sigh* maybe I just haven't kept with the times. I remember back in the old days where you had a big server and lots of dumb terminals being hosted off that... oh that's just like this is .

I always had the impression that the more impressive-sounding a new technology was, the more it was actually an invention of the marketing department purely for the purposes of impressing cheif executives at customer presentations. The *really* impressive ideas were the simple ones that made you wonder why you didn't think of it first. And there were precious few of those sorts of innovations.

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by JoC

"Softgrid is the generic name for a bunch of servers that rather than just hold data like your servers over in the exciting and sexy department actually hold the applications as well. *snip*
The advantage is that PCs don't need to be upgraded and really old machines can be used to run modern software. It also makes administration a lot easier because there is only ever one copy of an application.

Well, I'd echo the "they're making it up comment", except that there is a product called SoftGrid (http://www.softricity.com/products/index.asp), which sounds similar to that description.

Cutting through the marketese (and that wasn't easy), it's a networking application. But then, so is Windows Explorer

But "generic name", definitely not.

[JoC]

Originally Posted by killingtime

*sigh* maybe I just haven't kept with the times. I remember back in the old days where you had a big server and lots of dumb terminals being hosted off that... oh that's just like this is .

Well I'm also told it's similar to how computer systems were configured back in the 60's and 70's, but I'd say you're a bit young for those olden days.
I probably snipped out other crucial bits, but the explanation I got does for me, I respect my source.

[JoC]

Originally Posted by DavidJames

Well, I'd echo the "they're making it up comment",
*snip*
But "generic name", definitely not.

Not another one . Would that not even do as an explanation for a layperson?
Maybe it's a generic term in Dundee...

[ducasi]

Originally Posted by JoC

"Softgrid is the generic name for a bunch of servers that rather than just hold data like your servers over in the exciting and sexy department actually hold the applications as well.

OK, so Softgrid is some sort-of distributed computing platform based on the ideas of grid computing, but not quite so good if you don't actually have much of a grid... And sequencing seems to be part of the Softgrid™ world.

So, I wouldn't say it's a generic name, but I definitely agree with the bit about where the servers are as being exciting and sexy.