Issue #58 – 2nd October 2013
Thanks to Travis from Spire Healthcare who was our 550th subscriber.
News and Latest Developments
PeopleSoft HTML Email Approvals for HCM
New PeopleSoft HCM 9.1 functionality has been announced allowing customers to take advantage of AWE and respond to requests for approval without going in to PeopleSoft. There is no need for the approver to log into PIA to approve a request, users can take action and add comments directly from their email client.
PeopleSoft Mobile Time Entry now available in FSCM
Oracle have released mobile functionality for Timesheet entry, alongside their Expenses and Approvals applications. In addition to this post – which has links for further information – there’s a YouTube video if you want to see it in action.
Open World
Oxfam’s Graham Smith recaps his experience from the first half of OpenWorld for us. Graham mentions MAPS and NUI (Mobile Applications for PeopleSoft and the Next Generation User Interface), which are features from future releases, plus Paco Aubrejuan’s (SVP PeopleSoft Enterprise Development) commitment to PeopleSoft “at least until 2027”!
Functional
The Mipro blog has an excellent series on running a PeopleSoft upgrade, from the Reasons Why a Project fails, through to this latest article summarising the make-or-break factors.
A great article from Forbes on the parallels between playing Lego with your children and Change Management in the workplace. Some of it is an excellent example of Best Practice, particularly Number 1 – “Start with what success looks like. Lego provides a complete and exciting picture of the final product right there on the box.”
Technical
Web Services in PeopleSoft
The Hexaware blog has a overview of creating CI-backed Web Servcies in PeopleSoft, and a step-by-step screenshot walkthrough of how to create a custom Web Service.
The PeopleSoft Component Processor
Derek Tomei writes on the IT Toolbox blog about the Component Processor, and includes a handy flowchart to aid in understanding the sequence of events.
Resend Report Content
We’ve probably all been in a situation where Process Monitor shows a lot of unposted report content. It’s impractical to go into each in turn, so here’s a handy script from Nicolos Gasparotto to save you from the effort.
Reading
Increase your Luck Surface Area 
Entrepreneur Jason Roberts has written a well thought-out piece that he describes best “The amount of serendipity that will occur in your life, your Luck Surface Area, is directly proportional to the degree to which you do something you’re passionate about combined with the total number of people to whom this is effectively communicated.” It’s a really neat concept.
Half of American jobs will soon be done by robots
I think most of us expect the autonomous car to replace taxi drivers and long-distance lorry drivers at some point in the future, however this article suggests that the advent of big-data that desk-based knowledge workers are at risk too.
Your Heartbeat Is Your New Password 
Spotted by the GreyHeller guys, this article shows how a new product called the Nymi can authenticate you via your heartbeat. There’s a bit of a ‘battle for your wrist’ at the moment, with the FitBit/JawBone Up type trackers, the plethora of Smart Watches and now this. We just need them all to be integrated into a single universal device.
Infographic
This isn’t an InfoGraphic, but it is a great display of useful information. Web Developer Matthew Somerville has used publicly available APIs and mashed it up with OpenStreetMaps to provide a real-time display of London Bus locations. Never wonder how long it is until your next bus arrives (he’s also done a similar mash-up for the Tube).
Watching
Earlier this year a fireman found an unconscious kitten in the wreckage of a house. His rescue and revival of the lucky feline was captured on his helmet-camera.
And Finally…
An interesting read via NextDraft about the life of a professional gaming academy in London. They take just 6 gamers a year, and train them to be the best. Our favourite quote – when asked about the health concerns of gaming for 12 hours a day – “it’s probably no worse than American football.”
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