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<> on March 5, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.
<> on March 5, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.

PoliticsMarch 11, 2016

Pictures special: the man who dressed up as a wall, and 12 other outstanding Trump devotees

<> on March 5, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.
<> on March 5, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.

In a report on the aftermath of this past Tuesday’s primaries, the New York Times neatly captured the impact, allure and magnetism of Donald Trump, in adjoining paragraphs.

Mrs Clinton, addressing supporters in Cleveland, did not mention the Mississippi or Michigan results, instead alluding to the vitriol in the Republican field. “As the rhetoric keeps sinking lower, the stakes in this election keep rising higher,” she said. Running for president, she said, “shouldn’t be about delivering insults; it should be about delivering results.”

But none of the major cable news networks carried her remarks, which came as Mr Trump was speaking.

None of us, be we cable news viewers, poorly educated peasants, haters, losers, lightweights or weaklings, seem to be able to get enough of the guy.

But the super-fans are something else, going the extra mile to show their passion for the Donald.

Here we celebrate these most hardened acolytes of the Republican frontrunner, in pictures.

1. Nerds 4 Trump

Let us begin in the beating heart of Donald Trump’s America, Las Vegas, where a pair of young men illustrate their enthusiasm for the political smarts of Harry Potter and the boy wizardry of Donald Trump by dressing as if one of their heroes had inseminated the other and conceived twins.

 

<> on December 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

2. Twins 4 Trump

Actual twins this time. Or one of them. Impossible to say what happened to 1 of 2, he’s probably fucking up an illegal immigrantat.

3. Kids 4 Trump

Here we are in Georgia, where a small child sits atop his father’s shoulders, a human placard, his get-up immaculate all the way down to the lapel badge, although to be honest they might have done better with the spray tan.

 

VALDOSTA, GA - FEBRUARY 29: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters after a rally at Valdosta State University February 29, 2016 in Valdosta, Georgia. On the eve of the Super Tuesday primaries, Trump is enjoying his best national polling numbers of the election cycle, increasing his lead over rivals Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).  (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)
Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images

4. Beards 4 Trump

Still in Georgia, here’s a friendly man with a useful beard for putting stickers on.

VALDOSTA, GA - FEBRUARY 29: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets supporters during his rally at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia on February 29, 2016 . (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)
Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images

5. Fingerless Gloves 4 Trump

Like the man with the sticker on his beard, this interesting fellow in Vegas is sporting a popular fingerless biker glove look as he cheers on the mighty Trump. On his T-shirt, another widely spotted item of clothing among Trump supporters, is the exhortation to send Hillary Clinton to prison.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a caucus night watch party at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on February 23, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The New York businessman won his third state victory in a row in the "first in the West" caucuses.
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

6. Trainspotters 4 Trump

Hillary Clinton would probably take prison over being tied to a railway track with Bernie Sanders as an advancing train hurtled towards them, as imagined in this upbeat placard held aloft at a Nevada rally.

RENO, NV - FEBRUARY 23:  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets supporters following a rally at the Nugget February 23, 2016 in Sparks, Nevada. The Nevada GOP caucus is tonight. (Photo by David Calvert/Getty Images)
Photo by David Calvert/Getty Images

7. Time Travellers 4 Trump

Pretty obviously this guy has travelled from the future to urge Americans to do the right thing and is just trying to play it cool and fit in despite having scrawled the desparate message with his own blood.

WALTERBORO, SC - FEBRUARY 17:  Audience members wait to hear Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump deliver remarks on February 17, 2016 in Walterboro, South Carolina. Trump addressed the Lowcountry Sportsmen for Trump with three days remaining before the South Carolina Republican primary.  (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

8. Truckers 4 Trump

This is pretty fucking objectively great from Trump-truckers Julian and Kraig, in Iowa.

DES MOINES, IA - JANUARY 28: Julian Raven (L) and Kraig Moss, both supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, outside a truck with a Trump painting in which they are touring Iowa on January 28, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. The Democratic and Republican Iowa Caucuses, the first step in nominating a presidential candidate from each party, will take place on February 1. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kraig Moss;Julian Raven
Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Here’s a bit more of it.

DES MOINES, IA - JANUARY 28: Kraig Moss, a supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, outside a truck with a Trump painting in which he is touring Iowa on January 28, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. The Democratic and Republican Iowa Caucuses, the first step in nominating a presidential candidate from each party, will take place on February 1. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

9. Superheroes 4 Trump

Here is a Wisconsin-based superhero vouching for the fact that Trump is “our superhero”, which makes Trump the superheroes’ superhero. A major endorsement.

MILWAUKEE, WI - NOVEMBER 10:  A supporter of republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wears a Captain America outfit outside of the Republican Presidential Debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Journal at the Milwaukee Theatre on November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The fourth Republican debate is held in two parts, one main debate for the top eight candidates, and another for four other candidates lower in the current polls.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

10. Hispanics 4 Trump

It is cheering to see the diversity in the Trump ranks. Here, in Texas, a Hispanic gentleman holds this sign detailing his Hispanic-ness. He has put in a lot of extra effort to make himself look exactly like Donald Trump.

FORT WORTH, TX - FEBRUARY 26:  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs for fans at a rally at the Fort Worth Convention Center on February 26, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Trump is campaigning in Texas, days ahead of the Super Tuesday primary.  (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

11. Faces 4 Trump

Here is a person in Georgia who is happy to meet Donald Trump.

MESA, AZ - DECEMBER 16:  A campaign supporter reacts as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs her button during a campaign event at the International Air Response facility on December 16, 2015 in Mesa, Arizona. Trump is in Arizona the day after the Republican Presidential Debate hosted by CNN in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images

12. Faces 4 Trump #2

Here is an even more happy person. A person so happy her face split into several parts shortly after the photograph was taken. The baby is too young to understand that it’s a big moment. What a loser.

GettyImages-484797712 (1)
Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images

Please, come closer:

GettyImages-484797712 (1)

13. Wall guy

Last but not least, in fact by some distance the most, is the man who showed his support for Mr Trump’s bold idea of building a 3,000km wall separating the USA from Mexico by dressing up as a wall. A modern American hero.

<> on March 5, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Keep going!
Here is a picture of somebody’s hands dong some coding. May not in fact be Auckland hands.
Here is a picture of somebody’s hands dong some coding. May not in fact be Auckland hands.

OPINIONPoliticsMarch 8, 2016

Public IT projects are a disaster zone. Here’s some free advice

Here is a picture of somebody’s hands dong some coding. May not in fact be Auckland hands.
Here is a picture of somebody’s hands dong some coding. May not in fact be Auckland hands.

Reports of a blowout in the Auckland Council information technology budget are as dismal as they are unsurprising. Nigel McNie, a software developer who has been building complex, bespoke IT systems for many years, offers some free advice.

Eyes have been rolling up and down New Zealand at news of a Super City IT cost blowout, and the tediously predictable way in which it happened.

With $1.2 billion spent and counting, this is shaping up, notwithstanding council efforts to play it down, as one of the biggest overruns ever for a country all too familiar with them.

Public IT projects are a notoriously problematic. Here’s some advice for anyone planning one.

1. Half of IT projects costing more than $15m massively blow their budgets

“Massively” for software projects means an average 66% blow out. These project also overrun their time by 33% and deliver 17% less benefit than they were predicted to. Ouch. (Source: McKinsey-Oxford, 2012.)

Here is a picture of somebody's hands dong some coding. May not in fact be Auckland hands.
Here is a picture of somebody’s hands doing some sort of coding. May not in fact be Auckland hands.

2. 17% of IT projects go so badly that they threaten the very existence of the company

The same study provides us with this quite incredible statistic.

Such overruns match or surpass those experienced by black swans among complex construction projects such as tunnels and bridges. One large retailer started a $1.4 billion effort to modernise its IT systems, but the project was eventually abandoned. As the company fell behind its competitors, it initiated another project  —  a new system for supply-chain management  —  to the tune of $600 million. When that effort failed, too, the retailer had to file for bankruptcy.

The Auckland Council has spent $1.24 billion on IT since 2010. The IRD transformation project has over $1 billion allocated to it. Just fixing Novopay has cost around $50 million. INCIS (the Integrated National Crime Information System)  was budgeted at around $85 million. Do you sense a pattern here?

3. There is no such thing as an off-the-shelf solution for your problem

The Standard’s article on the Auckland Council IT blowout says that the former head of information services “threw out the existing software used for property, consents and LIM’s (Pathway), in favour of heavily customising the expensive off the shelf SAP package”.

Read that again. The strategy was to start with something off-the-shelf, and then … heavily customise it.

For those unfamiliar with software development, this is like trying to build a five-storey house by starting with a one-storey house, and then attempting to build upward. At some point, you realise that you need to go back and change the foundations to get results, but by then you’re three storeys up. It will either cost you big time, or you’ll have to start again, or you’ll have to live with it.

4. With your complexity, you need to employ, or contract for the long term, the people who will build the systems

The art of building a great IT system is to truly understand the problem you are solving. This is easiest if your IT team is either in house, or you have a long, good relationship with them.

The crux of it is this: At some point, somebody has to take the problem and explain it to the computer. You will never get this right the first time. Your best chance for success is to have the team close enough to the problem, and able to move fast enough, that they can clarify the explanation given to the computer before you run out of money.

This feedback loop works best when you have a team that understands both software development and your requirements. Think of the institutional knowledge that a public department has. How can it be easier for an outside IT team to understand the nuance, the rules, the laws, the exceptions, the changing environment within your organisation, when the project is so large?

5. The way to spend more than $10m on an IT project …

… is to first spend $100K, and if it’s working, slowly spend more.

Code is great. Creating and deleting it is easy. Creating the right code is hard, but creating code that tests out approaches quickly is very cheap. Open Source software can give you huge assistance to get started, and New Zealand now has a significant pool of IT talent that knows how to build projects of this size.

Consider how startups turn into successful businesses. They spend a small amount (by necessity), and if it works, they get to spend more, until they succeed. Xero is an IT project that would cost more than $10 million if built from the ground up, but they didn’t do it all at once. They started with a small slice of the problem, and proved it would work as a business first.

6. Enterprise providers will screw you over and leave you with the bag …

… even you don’t know the full extent of your requirements right now. A huge project to work out what they might be, right now, so that we can spend years building systems to match it, is a comically bad idea.

Software and hardware are not like skyscrapers. You can’t design one up front, build it, and have it sit there for 80 years. Your requirements will change. New governments pass laws. Hardware becomes obsolete every three years. Security is a huge problem requiring ongoing investment to fix. What’s more, if you design up front, you make it so much harder to adapt to an improved understanding of the situation as you build.

You must embrace uncertainty. The requirements will not be fully understood up front, but if you keep your projects small and fast, there is room to adjust them on the fly. The software development community even has entire models of work built around this concept (for example: agile). You would do well to use them.

7. Open source is not a panacea

It’s incredibly helpful, but you must be careful how you do it.

If your project gets too large, you get stuck with many of the same problems that a “customised off-the-shelf” closed-source solution has. In particular, your foundations will move, and you need to accommodate this.

If you’re not prepared to keep the WordPress you built on fully patched, if you don’t appreciate that sometimes an open source project will make backward-incompatible changes, or if you simply make too many changes yourself, you are nearly as doomed as if you used closed source. At least your failure will be cheaper.

Keeping your project small really helps. The software development industry uses open source software all the time at small scale, with great success. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can build larger projects on its back.

8. A path forward: develop your own in-house IT expertise

You have so much complexity and nuance inside your operation. Your IT projects will last far longer than the first hardware you buy. They will even outlast you.

Build a team inside your organisation that understands IT, that can begin to understand your organisation. Let them build small projects. You can bring contractors in to provide extra speed or expertise, but their projects must also be small.

IT is critical. You won’t function without it. You’re IT-driven whether you like it or not. Own it.

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