tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60989219042690316472024-02-02T10:35:05.770-05:00Technology’s impact on our lives.Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-44307773776922181222015-08-12T11:28:00.000-04:002015-08-12T11:28:48.314-04:00At work, do you prefer Email, IM or just Bonnet-Meetings?<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b>A discussion of generational
communication challenges</b><o:p></o:p></h1>
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John is an
accomplished experienced lawyer. On a recent trip together, he lamented being
increasingly exasperated by some of the young 'uns in his office. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"I sent him a detailed email with the entire
legal position last week," John told me, "But on Monday the guy tells
me that he never saw anything. He just said he doesn’t read emails!" <o:p></o:p></div>
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"What am I supposed to do? How should I be
informing him of what he needs to know?" John asked me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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John's
right. If I send you a communication and you don’t even want to open the tool,
what can I do? Is reading emails mandatory? Is that a formal policy? In what
time period should emails be read or responded to? Surprisingly, not many
organizations have any such policy or clarity on this issue.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We are at a curious cusp. <i>The different ways in which we
can communicate with each other has grown exponentially. And we have
established no rules for any of them! </i><i>When
should we use what? </i>And whose job is it to create this guidance anyway? HR?
IT? Management? It is not entirely clear.</div>
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I know that there are those who will see this attempt at creating
clarity as more bureaucracy and an unnecessary attempt to formalize something
that works just fine informally. Perhaps it does. But as a technologist
interested in the most efficient use of these tools, I see more communication
breakdowns with the increased number of tools - not necessarily better
communication. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In most enterprises today, we have some if not all of the
following means of communication: phones, meetings, emails, instant messages,
social media, snail mail, faxes, memos etc. Admittedly, some of those at the
end of that list are less frequently used, and I probably missed a few others.
Carrier pigeons?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Different generations – GI generation (Born 1901-1926), Mature
Silents (Born 1927-1945), Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964),
Generation Xers (Born 1965-1980), Millennials or Generation Y (Born 1981-2000,
and Boomlets or Generation Z (Born after 2001)- don’t use these communication
tools in the same way. This is significant in environments where many
generations are intermingled.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrStxb9r-5uS3gwWpIG4DMekB0hqlfi2S2PbqMPvUv072EqvsyePkmE57le8HyJON-QVuCoAeotM706FmtWB0ADclVsVrj4WQxdyljhGzwjttte8T70oeISZN-BiwudwyGEaUnyoV1q_4/s1600/busy2-493x321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrStxb9r-5uS3gwWpIG4DMekB0hqlfi2S2PbqMPvUv072EqvsyePkmE57le8HyJON-QVuCoAeotM706FmtWB0ADclVsVrj4WQxdyljhGzwjttte8T70oeISZN-BiwudwyGEaUnyoV1q_4/s320/busy2-493x321.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is one blueprint for usage. Admittedly, this is a work
in progress and I welcome your comments and suggestions</div>
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<b>EMAIL</b><o:p></o:p></h2>
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<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Do's<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Use email only when you have no expectation of
an immediate response. This is important.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHI8QW-Kacc27ix6JgmgCSMu-WKgT0H0LNdZnleZXPKgNrgsQgvccxmBs634khBMO1OQZmKY_G6BN1aO-P6uHmtkh0SHGTgzPkFVJh9yyjfT7ATFbRmKBkSk0ofeDYhmyGRVKTdXM35SM/s1600/emailresponsebiz2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHI8QW-Kacc27ix6JgmgCSMu-WKgT0H0LNdZnleZXPKgNrgsQgvccxmBs634khBMO1OQZmKY_G6BN1aO-P6uHmtkh0SHGTgzPkFVJh9yyjfT7ATFbRmKBkSk0ofeDYhmyGRVKTdXM35SM/s320/emailresponsebiz2013.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Some experts now recommend checking emails
infrequently, say once an hour, or even just a few times a day. Otherwise, as
many studies have shown, we have far too many disruptions to perform focused
work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_M3fenY7UWMOYM9LBOYDJ401WE1eNj1reNBJL6bv84BosZBw2HFqKpxZsAKwZBzh8P_hraOYwf0KSjzqaDHv_KBsP4wbV7t4Yefp1CuSDFA7AD8gWsQQv9mWAvQMYbplNwjSlJlcYiA/s1600/c88e5e569aa7b412bff3f848ec9f7c53.jpg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_M3fenY7UWMOYM9LBOYDJ401WE1eNj1reNBJL6bv84BosZBw2HFqKpxZsAKwZBzh8P_hraOYwf0KSjzqaDHv_KBsP4wbV7t4Yefp1CuSDFA7AD8gWsQQv9mWAvQMYbplNwjSlJlcYiA/s320/c88e5e569aa7b412bff3f848ec9f7c53.jpg.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->If you are trying to connect to a GI or Baby Boomer, use email. You
have a better chance of being noticed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Don'ts<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->If your email is longer than 4 reasonable sized
paragraphs, you need a phone call or a meeting (that number is fungible, but
not by much)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->If you are one of those whose email end up with
six colors, as it moves back and forth with a new color for every response -
you don’t understand email! Multi-colors are for whiteboards not emails.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->And finally, many experts are beginning to look
at email as a legacy application. Remember memos....<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>INSTANT MESSAGE or IM aka “Texts”<o:p></o:p></b></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgxfomzZQwM8KRmmqs8Q0pOC64KD3rRvRlcNZLgsF7TTKGeW2gxVMmPpSxmOBN-ZXzR3ZlSQmYbG9sJUYSABrs-Z1aowsFfR34T2YgOxXjk4Az9YP4165mu0-BbdHWaTTzqTpOaTaCh4/s1600/EMail-Vs-Instant-Messaging-300x241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgxfomzZQwM8KRmmqs8Q0pOC64KD3rRvRlcNZLgsF7TTKGeW2gxVMmPpSxmOBN-ZXzR3ZlSQmYbG9sJUYSABrs-Z1aowsFfR34T2YgOxXjk4Az9YP4165mu0-BbdHWaTTzqTpOaTaCh4/s1600/EMail-Vs-Instant-Messaging-300x241.jpg" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Do's<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Use IM when you have a "quick"
question or want to respond with a "short" answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->If you are trying to connect to a Gen Xer or
Millennial, you are far more likely to get a response on an IM.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Don’ts<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->If your IM is more than a sentence, you are
probably not using it correctly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->It is not a substitute for an email.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Just because you see someone's <i>presence</i>
showing green, does not mean they are doing nothing and will respond in 5
seconds (<i>presence</i> allows you to see availability) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Don’t assume a Baby Boomer is paying attention
to your "texts" (many will call them that)! They probably don’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>MEETING</b></h2>
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Contrary to common perception,
meetings are evolving. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->First, the 'traditional' meeting, the best
option for discussions and information sharing, especially when provisioned
with advance agendas and post meeting deliverables. Most popular with the older
generations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Another obvious variation is the sidebar or
impromptu, where you walk to someone's office or cubicle to discuss something
that is important and urgent. There is also the rise of the "teaming
room" meetings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Video/audio conferences are popular in an
environment of virtual and telecommuting employees.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Next, we have the 'stand-up' or 'bonnet'
meetings made popular by tech companies. These are quick check-ins, and
participants will stand in a circle or around a table ('bonnet' is another word
for the hood of a car). More popular with the younger hip crowd.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->And finally, the 'disrupters' have created yet
another form of meeting made famous at many large and small companies - the 'optional'
meetings. Yes, in certain companies every meeting is optional! Bain & Company found that the<a href="http://econ.st/UOEyPD" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; outline: none; widows: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> average manager wastes nearly a full day every week</span></a><span style="widows: auto;"> in meetings, and senior executives <a href="http://econ.st/UOEyPD" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">waste a staggering 40% of their work
week </span></a><span style="widows: auto;">in endless,
mind-numbing, and ineffective meetings.</span> Not surprisingly, these optional
meetings are quite successful. Radical!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="widows: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b>PHONE</b><o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
A phone call fits somewhere between
a meeting and an email. There are some conflicting signals about the use of
voicemail versus email. In many organizations, leaving a voicemail does not
necessarily elevate the communication to an urgent status. Many use voicemail
as the "spam call" repository.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Do's<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The older generations tend to use phones
more often and respond better to calls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->This communication is generally more urgent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Don'ts<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Just because you know a coworker's mobile phone
number does not mean you should use it. Being mindful about using phones for
work particularly after-hours, weekends etc. is a good idea.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Younger generations are far less enamored by
talking to you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b>MEMO - ANNOUNCEMENTS - BLOGS</b><o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
This is one area that has undergone
quite a bit of change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Do's<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Communications on organizational policies etc. are now located more
frequently in 'announcements' or posts on internal enterprise social media (ESM)
outlets like Yammer etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The younger generations find this more convenient but the older
generations are still stymied by social media.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Don'ts<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Memos are passé as the repositories of
"lengthy communications" – and are increasingly shunned as a means of
effective communication. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Many of the older generations find this void
troubling and invariably try to use emails for that purpose, with mixed results.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Frankly, the attention spans of the new entrants
into our work environments and their preference for shorter communications -
has been a death-knell for memos. Viva la Twitter!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b>ENTERPRISE SOCIAL MEDIA (YAMMER, CHATTER,
HANGOUTS ETC.)<o:p></o:p></b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
This is the newer entrant and again
the harder shift for older generations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The problem is best understood as a
"push" versus "pull" conundrum. Memos are pushed out.
Social media is generally understood as a pull. A la carte is out. We are all
now at a buffet. Learn to find it, otherwise you may go hungry.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The younger generations, familiar with the
Facebook and Twitter worlds, have had no problem with this concept and use. The
older generation, responsible for much of the content, is instead trying to use
social media as a substitute for email.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given the tremendous challenges of this plethora of choices,
vendors are experimenting with all manner of hybrids. Will more options makes this easier?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On July 22, 2015 Microsoft announced <b>Send. Send </b>is a
cross between an SMS and an email. As Microsoft describes it: <i>It is a brief,
snappy communication. </i>It is when you want an instant response, and yet want
to be able to retain a record of what you said in Outlook. Microsoft says <b>Send</b> is different from regular email
because it only shows messages sent using the app itself. Time will tell if
this will work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfAc4BiQd7OCKjS9iajStAQjDBmH39r07pCPAsGjFBfP24EoV9SY7u-_oeCMZpVwwqFnBJQTSwwITGRpeMxsZfVev7hd7Ksy6Hpb87_QzpUWQJpu1zWuBnCH6G2AwsAcxmQk0vbawIIs/s1600/ms-send-640x510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfAc4BiQd7OCKjS9iajStAQjDBmH39r07pCPAsGjFBfP24EoV9SY7u-_oeCMZpVwwqFnBJQTSwwITGRpeMxsZfVev7hd7Ksy6Hpb87_QzpUWQJpu1zWuBnCH6G2AwsAcxmQk0vbawIIs/s320/ms-send-640x510.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Many organizations spend a lot of money and time on
personality testing and team building. It is not uncommon to walk into
enterprises and find the Myers-Briggs profile alphabets of the staff prominently
placed in their workspaces. It helps to understand a colleague’s personality. Is
it time to add a "communication preference" to that alphabet soup?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I prefer ESM, IM & Bonnets". You?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
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Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-31980822969483741252015-07-23T20:28:00.002-04:002015-07-25T15:26:23.411-04:00When did my car become a hackable computer?<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<a data-mce-href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hacked-title-2.jpg" href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hacked-title-2.jpg"><img alt="hacked title 2" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-30" data-mce-src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hacked-title-2-300x152.jpg" src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hacked-title-2-300x152.jpg" height="152" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<br data-mce-bogus="1" /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
With the host of recent news media accounts of sophisticated hacks on all manner of cars, there is a sense of shock and surprise.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
“Are you suggesting that my Jeep can start, stop and turn without me doing anything? Wow! When did this happen?”<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
Well, actually this shift has been in motion for a while. We just haven’t paid any attention to it and it exposes a reality that is worth exploring.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
However, to understand this, first we have to understand that computers operate on <em>code</em>. Code is written by human beings in <em>lines</em>, just as this blog is written in lines. The computer then consumes the <em>Lines of Code</em> that then tell it what actions to perform. </div>
<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<dl class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-mce-style="width: 300px;" id="attachment_35" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 300px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/code.png" href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/code.png" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><img alt="Lines of Code" class="size-medium wp-image-35" data-mce-src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/code-300x134.png" src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/code-300x134.png" height="134" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="300" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Lines of Code</dd></dl>
</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
Now, let’s look at a timeline:</div>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<li>Apollo 11 in 1969 had approximately 145,000 Lines of Code in the so-called <em>Apollo Guidance Computer</em> (AGC). That computer enabled astronauts to go to the moon and come back safely. Even so, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin overrode their Lunar Module computer when it almost landed them in a crater! But in terms of power, it was more basic than the electronics in modern toasters that have computer controlled stop/start/defrost buttons. The AGC had approximately 64Kbyte of memory and operated at a paltry 0.043MHz.</li>
</ul>
<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<dl class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-mce-style="width: 162px;" id="attachment_32" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 162px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/apollo-11.png" href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/apollo-11.png" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><img alt="Apollo 11 computer" class="size-medium wp-image-32" data-mce-src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/apollo-11-162x300.png" src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/apollo-11-162x300.png" height="300" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="162" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Apollo 11 computer</dd></dl>
</div>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<li>The space shuttle's <em>General Purpose Computer</em> (GPC) was originally designed in January 1972. NASA chose state-of-the-art flight computers from that era, and it had approx. 400,000 Lines of Code. It was upgraded many times and the Lines of Code went up with every upgrade.</li>
<li>Microsoft Office has approx. 45,000,000 Lines of Code! A quantum leap in complexity. Microsoft regularly patches and attempts to fix this code. Not always successfully.</li>
<li>CERN’s Large Hadron Collider that recently found the elusive <em>Higgs Boson</em> had approx. 50,000,000 Lines of Code before the most recent upgrade to find even smaller quantum particles.</li>
</ul>
<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<dl class="wp-caption aligncenter" data-mce-style="width: 278px;" id="attachment_36" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 278px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hadron.jpg" href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hadron.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><img alt="Large Hadron Collider" class="size-full wp-image-36" data-mce-src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hadron.jpg" src="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hadron.jpg" height="181" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="278" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Large Hadron Collider</dd></dl>
</div>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
<li>A modern automobile, by comparison, has approx. 100,000,000 Lines of Code! Whoa, wait a minute –my car has twice as many Lines of Code as the Hadron Collider? Yes. Depending on your car, it could have even more than that.<a data-mce-href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/code.png" href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/code.png"></a><a data-mce-href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hadron.jpg" href="http://mukulchopra.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/hadron.jpg"></a></li>
</ul>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
Why are these Lines of Code important?<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
According to a Carnegie Mellon report, there are 20-30 bugs per 1 to 1.5 million Lines of Code. Do the math. When you have millions of Lines of Code, there are more mistakes and hence more bugs. Bugs make the code more vulnerable – more hackable!<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
The idea that software – even from the biggest companies like Chrysler, Toyota, Google, Microsoft etc. – comes with NO bugs, is an illusion. Some companies have understood that reality and are attempting to get ahead of this threat. These companies are no longer in denial. They include software giant Google that routinely pays hackers millions of dollars for telling them of bugs in their software. More companies are getting in on this crowd-sourcing model for exposing vulnerabilities in their software. Tesla, the electric car maker, is already upgrading and updating their cars wirelessly over the internet. But for all those that are attempting to correct the code, many more have very poor security practices in the writing of that code and shabby quality control. An entire cadre of attorneys is salivating at the prospect of suing all these companies for the pain they will be causing in the future.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
United Airlines recently offered and then paid two hackers <em>one million</em> frequent flier miles each for spotting issues with their software. One million miles is the equivalent of 33 round trips from USA to Europe!<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
Daimler-Chrysler, BMW and Audi are buying Nokia maps for $2.7 billion. Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of Daimler, said a desire to have <em>better control over data security</em> was one of the reasons Mercedes was bidding for Nokia's high-definition mapping business. Dieter wants the Mercedes to steer where the driver intends the car to go and in the new and fast approaching era of driverless cars – this will be even more important. By the way, the Lines of Code in driverless cars is expected to grow exponentially, as then will the bugs.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: auto;">
Computers run Lines of Code. Code is not perfect. And whereas imperfect code in your laptop may not kill you (although that may not be as simplistic as that statement suggests), the computer you drive and call a car, certainly can.</div>
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Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-25469928192341966012014-12-19T13:04:00.000-05:002014-12-19T13:04:34.046-05:00Why no one is talking about the scariest part of the Sony hack?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDF51h5kyICsPjnG9zZHn4iwqdKtQo7r6G_gg0GCX_zElxDIGI7yzes5ChbBf6KUI1eEwW8aTw9cCd7ROl-AjrX86JrfXtkrWJ_pVasvx9KKnh-uy_6Z46sKgsBEfalN5u2yw_pnZVKls/s1600/061a4dc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDF51h5kyICsPjnG9zZHn4iwqdKtQo7r6G_gg0GCX_zElxDIGI7yzes5ChbBf6KUI1eEwW8aTw9cCd7ROl-AjrX86JrfXtkrWJ_pVasvx9KKnh-uy_6Z46sKgsBEfalN5u2yw_pnZVKls/s1600/061a4dc.jpg" height="183" width="320" /></a></div>
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At some point a major Hollywood studio decides to make a silly movie depicting an assassination attempt on the dictator of the last reclusive country on earth - North Korea. (Please remember the last two words of the last sentence. They could be a clue later on).</div>
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On November 23, the studio that made the movie is hacked. For two days their employees work with no computers. On November 27, four unreleased movies from the same studio are dumped onto the internet and millions watch them.</div>
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On November 28, reports suspect North Korea because a North Korean website calls <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Interview</em> “an evil act of provocation.” Really? Could that be possible? What would provoke them? What a crazy thought?</div>
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On December 2, nine days after the breach, Sony chiefs Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal issue an alert to employees about the attack: “It is now apparent that a large amount of confidential Sony Pictures Entertainment data has been stolen by the cyber attackers". What? It took six days to figure out that the unreleased movies and others salacious details dumped onto the internet are yours?</div>
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And all this while the mighty agencies of the US government are also investigating -with no success. No one has a clue who did it. Really? Who were they trying to assassinate in the movie again? Oh, I get it. No one knows because <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</em> movie has not been released in theaters yet.</div>
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On December 7, North Korea denies involvement in the hack while praising it as a “righteous deed.” Indeed! That must have thrown all the government agencies off the scent of the real perpetrators. Exquisite diversion.</div>
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Now emails, social security numbers, medical records, more threats, passwords and much more come cascading down onto the internet. But who did this? What a mystery!</div>
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To add to this covert operation, on December 14, the script for the still to be filmed new James Bond movie is divulged by these mysterious hackers. At this point my 10 year old is asking me, "You have got to be kidding me! Mysterious hackers?"</div>
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On December 15, Sony's chief informs a stunned town hall that this is an investigation now being handled by "the highest levels of the FBI". It has now been 17 days and we still have no clue who did this.</div>
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On December 18, almost 3 weeks after the hack, the US government accuses North Korea of this cyber-attack on Sony pictures!</div>
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Why did a 10 year old figure out who did this before the FBI?</em> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That is the scariest part of this story.</em></div>
Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-53449533582452219432014-09-24T10:58:00.000-04:002014-09-24T10:58:14.660-04:00Why does the man who led IBM’s Watson Project advocate technology timeouts?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtWc42_TGE05WDCeb1ImkOujkOJdqsuIkarmlXRCpiOHdknD5gsZ2fJWCap1gMR7lMuwC4fEUap82Az4VCR0vy2mhjJfFHp-EJKt9FZKzk3deNREjA7VZHiSVZqgYg8t65hZEzejppes/s1600/pic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtWc42_TGE05WDCeb1ImkOujkOJdqsuIkarmlXRCpiOHdknD5gsZ2fJWCap1gMR7lMuwC4fEUap82Az4VCR0vy2mhjJfFHp-EJKt9FZKzk3deNREjA7VZHiSVZqgYg8t65hZEzejppes/s1600/pic2.jpg" /></a></div>
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Manoj Saxena is a man heavily
immersed in technology. For many years he ran IBM’s famed Watson project. Today
he is a successful venture capitalist and seeds many more technology companies
encompassing the next wave of technology and innovation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, why then is he advocating
that in the tech companies he now runs, staff have <i>mandatory unplug days?</i> A technologist preaching technology time
outs? Blasphemous!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhDlCu91bH21XPF7km5dUa22YddTqJ2dmZT2bPXZJ4N15jqW1PgM5bo2-UpHLLlVUuHPwTcHgBRc4zSrPoh_X4fNWNJkhjXGbtQpsAMXEELMnne_iugV-WV8b0U_8S6FWr-PK7ek8Y-U/s1600/pic5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhDlCu91bH21XPF7km5dUa22YddTqJ2dmZT2bPXZJ4N15jqW1PgM5bo2-UpHLLlVUuHPwTcHgBRc4zSrPoh_X4fNWNJkhjXGbtQpsAMXEELMnne_iugV-WV8b0U_8S6FWr-PK7ek8Y-U/s1600/pic5.jpg" /></a></div>
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On the face of it, this may
appear strange. But it is really not. In fact, it appears surprisingly well
thought out. On predetermined holidays/dates his companies go into <i>electronic silence</i>. No emails, no texts,
not even phone calls for work. Just time to relax, rejuvenate and reconnect
with family and friends. Manoj postulates we – all of us – are rapidly
approaching an electronic saturation point. Like others, he believes that the
always-on and connected mantra is no longer the panacea it may have appeared to
be. It is taking a toll. He wants to go even further and extend the technology
moratorium to at least one of the weekend days, if not both.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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This sentiment is shared with many
other technologists including none other than Steve Jobs. Steve was apparently a
self-described “low-tech” parent who restricted his own kids’ access to
technology for some of the same reasons. In fact Jobs had such strong
reservations about allowing his kids unfettered and perpetual access to
technology that he confessed that his wife and kids accused him of being a
fascist! The man who may have single-handedly brought touchscreens into our
lives, had serious concerns about the long-term effects of engaging in
touchscreen technology for extended periods of time.<span style="color: #0070c0;">
</span>According to Walter Isaacson who spent many hours in the Job’s household
while writing his book, face-to-face family time came before any screen time.
No iPads were permitted at the dining table.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The always connected life-style
takes many tolls – from cost to productivity to creativity. Every economics
student knows that <i>switching </i>involves
cost. Today, when multi-tasking with technology has become a virtual epidemic,
why would we think it has no adverse effect?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Erica Fox, the best-selling author and Harvard professor
recently wrote an excellent piece titled “Is Never Offline, good for business
and life?” where she was reacting to the recent Time Magazine cover “Never
offline”. She rightly points out that those who are never offline spend too
much time <i>reacting</i> and not enough <i>solving problems.</i> They make decisions in
a “frenzied and buzzing state of mind”. They are also becoming less and less
familiar with focused attentive work and face-to-face relationships.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In a landmark report, Gloria
Mack of the University of California at Irvine, found that typically a person
in an office experiences a paltry 11 minutes before an interruption. <i>And it then takes an average of 25 minutes
before that person can return to the original task!</i> What is the quality of
work with such rapid and incessant switching generally driven by technology?<o:p></o:p></div>
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New research from the Carnegie
Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab shows that if you try to do
two things at the same time, <i>both things
suffer! </i>They found that the distraction of an interruption turned test
takers in their lab to become on average of 20 percent dumber. It was enough to
turn a B-minus student (80 percent) into a failure (62 percent).<o:p></o:p></div>
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According to Stanford
sociologist, Clifford Nass,who conducted some of the first tests into the effects
of multi-tasking, those who cannot resist doing two things at the same time are
“suckers for irrelevancy”. Apparently,
we are not just suckers for that new text message or email, but it is actually
making us stupid. <o:p></o:p></div>
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All this should concern
organizations of every type. According to the WSJ, <i>distractions cost companies money.</i> One survey in 2011 found that
businesses might be losing as much as $ 10,000 per employee every year due to
distractions and poorly designed technology. Many among us answer every instant
message, email or text at the very moment it arrives. And yet, how many
companies have programs where employees are being counselled on the impact of
multi-tasking and its effect on the company’s bottom line? Or how to manage the
multiple avenues for interruption we all face in any office today?<o:p></o:p></div>
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In a recent book just released
this September, “The Organized Mind”, Daniel Levitin (a professor of psychology
at McGill University) explores many facets of our lives under the stress of
information overload and multi-tasking. According to Prof. Levitin,
multi-tasking puts us into a dopamine-addiction loop which is similar to
cocaine addiction. Each time we do a new small task, our brains reward us with
a tiny shot of dopamine, which is the chemical in our brains responsible for
pleasure. He quotes a famous study in the 1950s where rats were given the
opportunity to press a bar to get a shot of dopamine. Soon they were pressing
the bar to the exclusion of everything including eating, drinking, sleeping and
even sex! They died of starvation and dehydration. Levitin strongly suggests
that we spend time away from our devices otherwise it will become like any
other addiction.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyExKK8VhtwJp9XmTWIZqp8FRyK7ZdJvhQD3_PgSK_wezVj30tj64z_b1E3DYrsWEGsZ1Hee-3KLeQX8PH9QKLcJUqZCOcyvErnppnKt9XOrJl-XsqWssIIGDwnubXCwn5Qyu0Wd5fF4/s1600/pic+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyExKK8VhtwJp9XmTWIZqp8FRyK7ZdJvhQD3_PgSK_wezVj30tj64z_b1E3DYrsWEGsZ1Hee-3KLeQX8PH9QKLcJUqZCOcyvErnppnKt9XOrJl-XsqWssIIGDwnubXCwn5Qyu0Wd5fF4/s1600/pic+7.jpg" /></a></div>
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So should we all abandon our
devices? Not exactly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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According to Marshall Van
Alstyne, an associate professor at Boston University and MIT, be very cautious
about technologies like social media and those which interrupt you constantly,
because that interruption dramatically reduces productivity. The solution,
according to him, is to batch time and tasks. So, rather than checking your
email every time the notification appears – turn the notification off, and
check email once every hour or couple of hours. Don’t interrupt your research
paper or memo every time the phone dings and informs you that someone has sent
you a text. Turn the ding off. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Manoj, Steve Jobs (and many other technology luminaries) are
right. They were involved with the creation of the technologies which may have resulted
in our distracted way of life. Many now recommend we need to adjust, and are calling
for technology time-outs and less multi-tasking. They should know. And unlike
many of us, some of them are actually doing something about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-90891982696643381472014-05-18T11:00:00.000-04:002014-05-19T11:09:05.488-04:00Why Project Managers need to understand EBay's Rating Systems <br />
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Something
new and exciting appears to be happening in the world of projects. It may just be
the beginning of an entirely new kind of project bicycle; one that comes with many
more wheels than we have been accustomed to see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
perfect storm of <i>über-specialization</i>
added to the potent mix of ubiquitous internet access - is creating a new era
of <b><i>Micro
Projects. <o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How
are these different from the projects as we have known them? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Micro Projects</span></i></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> are to projects what
the factory assembly line was to manufacturing. Each component or task of the
project is broken down to a far greater extent – many more wheels; the tasks
are individually outsourced in an open marketplace of freelancers; these tasks
may be completed by a person who specializes in only that one task; who may be
located in a faraway place and speaks in languages other than English, and is someone
you are unlikely to ever meet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
this paradigm, every component, becomes a project with its own scope, vetting
of the vendor, contract, acquisition, management, etc. It becomes a complete<b><i> </i></b>project
-<b><i>
a Micro Project.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Micro
Projects </span></i></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">may<b><i> </i></b>have some unique characteristics which we have not encountered - at least not in the traditional way we have thought of projects:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First, the units of
work are very small- are hence far greater in number- and each unit can be
completed by a freelancer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Such tasks are <i>bid</i> out to attract qualified independent
contractors or freelancers who are increasingly flocking to this new landscape.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The buyers and
providers of such <b><i>Micro Project </i></b>services are meeting in internet portals and
sites setup to facilitate precisely this need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On some sites, freelancers
are evaluated on the basis of work they have already done. They have ratings
like a contractor might have on <i>Angie’s
List</i> or perhaps a more sophisticated system like the buyer-seller ratings
on <i>EBay.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As a buyer you may have
a rating of your own for the contractors to evaluate as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Payment is often
handled via an escrow system like that on <i>EBay
</i>where funds from buyers are held and dispersed to providers only upon task
completion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some even provide an
arbitration process to assist with disputes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
development is a natural evolution for certain kinds of projects where
redundancy, costs, efficiency, timelines etc. are all positively affected as
projects are broken down into far smaller and independent segments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Imagine,
for example, if the make-or-break tasks in the project (the <i>Critical Path</i>) are farmed out to multiple
freelancers <i>for the same task?</i> Would
that ensure a higher percentage completion, or quality, or timeliness? Call it
“<i>Micro Project Insurance</i>.” If a
particular outsourced task is extremely critical, why not have a backup plan
and get two vendors to complete it independently? The <b><i>Micro Project’s </i></b>size of
components reduces the individual component cost, thus making redundancy more
cost effective. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
this model, the role of Project Managers becomes more of a <i>broker</i> involved with sourcing, managing, and integrating a rich
dispersed vendor channel who are completing ever smaller elements that together
embody the totality of the project. The emphasis shifts to detailed scope and
task requirements, the vetting of freelancers, and multitudes of contracts to
manage and administer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnydgNgEtpsRh1FE9tqQOppMzol2E1WE7-N87M1BTaYW1azA2ASBfUblbBJkzdHTHOhVaekymTk_EU9HrVhCdQEQG0Hjo1qnb3wIU0lkTgZut5TXN-uLgugPnhB1gnH8lVhLH9n3QQn60/s1600/images(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnydgNgEtpsRh1FE9tqQOppMzol2E1WE7-N87M1BTaYW1azA2ASBfUblbBJkzdHTHOhVaekymTk_EU9HrVhCdQEQG0Hjo1qnb3wIU0lkTgZut5TXN-uLgugPnhB1gnH8lVhLH9n3QQn60/s1600/images(3).jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
marketplace of websites facilitating this type of project, is proliferating. And
more of these sites are appearing every day. There is a strong possibility that
this may lead to a specialization of such sites. You may go to one site for
marketing and another for designing a web site, etc. (<i>see a short list of sites at the end of this blog</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Micro
Projects </span></i></b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">are currently penetrating and altering traditional projects
dealing with IT services, software development, design, marketing,
communication and even administration projects. Over time, there is no reason
to believe that other industries will not embrace this new breed of project. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
<b><i>Micro
Projects </i></b>become more commonplace, Project Managers best be paying
attention to riding and steering this new kind of bicycle. With many more
wheels spinning under you, maintaining a common direction and making sure you
stay in your seat, will take some new skills and much more dexterity.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkcm6wy7f3rhV7IqxCCrRB6g4Rdz0yItZL0ybDZoflIJaVIsL9hyphenhyphenhiOKQAyS5ogGbYJ136SlDZ9zSC63sPct6SysyzrpyNQ3dkSBrv7TB5e-3t_NPFbPCR7jo9l_a7HtH44TAddVhyPc/s1600/bike+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkcm6wy7f3rhV7IqxCCrRB6g4Rdz0yItZL0ybDZoflIJaVIsL9hyphenhyphenhiOKQAyS5ogGbYJ136SlDZ9zSC63sPct6SysyzrpyNQ3dkSBrv7TB5e-3t_NPFbPCR7jo9l_a7HtH44TAddVhyPc/s1600/bike+3.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
list below is but a small subset of the rapidly growing number of sites
catering to this new phenomenon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, Amazon is already
in this game. Their tag line is: “We give businesses and developers access to
an on-demand, scalable workforce”. <i>Mechanical
Turk</i> is for HIT or <i>human intelligence
tasks </i>and over 558,000 such tasks are currently available for freelancers</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.guru.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.Guru.com</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is another site where you can find freelancers
to do tasks in writing, translation, web, design, multi-media, software, IT and
admin tasks</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.mycrowd.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">https://www.mycrowd.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><a href="https://www.mycrowd.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">MyCrowd</span></a><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, a startup that helps
companies find freelance talent for specific tasks through Google Docs,
PowerPoint and other software applications, is raising $500,000 in a seed round
from unnamed angel investors to add more connectors and expand beyond its
existing base of around 10 million specialists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.freelancer.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.freelancer.com</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is a site which matches
requirements in mobile application development, design, analytics, web design
etc.</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.projects4hire.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.projects4hire.com</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is a plain vanilla site
but has a very long list of engineering, IT and other service categories.</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.codingcupboard.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.codingcupboard.com/</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">matches businesses with
the best student coders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://pickcrew.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">https://pickcrew.com/</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">has a different angle. They fully vet every
designer and developer and focus on web and mobile projects.</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.iwebmanage.com/content/bidforprojects/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.iwebmanage.com/content/bidforprojects/</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">has a built in escrow
function and enable freelancers to even video conference on projects with
employers. They will even assist project sponsors with a business analysis
service to make it easier for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.joomlancers.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.joomlancers.com/</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is another site
allowing buyers and providers to find themselves. <u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.elance.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">https://www.elance.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is one of the oldest
sites for this purpose and had been around since 1999. They are more expensive
due to their 10% fee and thus attract higher budget projects.</span><span style="color: #7030a0;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.odesk.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.odesk.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3e464a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">has an online tracking system, which
makes it stand out from the crowd. This system checks employees' work every ten
minute so that their work is assured to be under progress.</span><span style="color: #0070c0;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.scriptlance.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.scriptlance.com</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #3e464a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">has no fees: free
registration and free monthly services. In general, this is a competitive
marketplace with hundreds of projects posted every day and thousands of
freelancers bidding</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.ifreelancer.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.ifreelancer.com</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #3e464a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">registered freelancers have to pay membership
fees for the services. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.fiverr.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.fiverr.com/</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">here services start at
$5.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.outsourcing-partners.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.outsourcing-partners.com</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">has published rates for
some tasks and focuses on software and design development as well as marketing
projects</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://worknhire.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://worknhire.com</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is also focused on IT services.</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.origondo.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">https://www.origondo.com/</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">matches projects in
marketing, design, communication, administration etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.wordpressfreelance.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.wordpressfreelance.com/</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">is a marketplace for
those wishing to create presence in the <i>WordPress
</i>environment. </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.bizreef.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.bizreef.com</span></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">launched in October
2007 and hence once of the oldest, has over 25,000 freelancers vying for your
business. Bizreef also has an Escrow system that guarantees that freelancers
will receive order services as well as protection of their rights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-50334715995290858642014-03-12T12:20:00.000-04:002014-03-12T12:20:11.797-04:00Why Einstein might call Big Data “spooky”?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5CUp7QkLKXWbi332lfskHSuXaGH3G6GIyJ7WFz7ogXGdRt-pvAXKZBcwaQXPupE3nMsSpZE_wB0ByQuyJaZoewbB6KhotSDCmX0ax4w7l1TGj3FhXUlxL8JuppLZLWN3M2f6FP7euBw/s1600/Einstein_1921_portrait2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5CUp7QkLKXWbi332lfskHSuXaGH3G6GIyJ7WFz7ogXGdRt-pvAXKZBcwaQXPupE3nMsSpZE_wB0ByQuyJaZoewbB6KhotSDCmX0ax4w7l1TGj3FhXUlxL8JuppLZLWN3M2f6FP7euBw/s1600/Einstein_1921_portrait2.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Human beings, and
scientists in particular, are conditioned to look for causes. One of the most
brilliant scientists of our time, Einstein, had his nemesis in what we call
quantum mechanics (or quantum physics as it is also sometimes called). This is
the study of the smallest particles known to man. Einstein’s theory of
relativity and quantum theory are – in many ways – contradictions, which have
still not been satisfactorily reconciled into one cohesive theory.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">For example, at the
quantum level, one particle can potentially be at two places at the same time!
It defies all logic and yet it is possible. If you <i>look</i> at a nanoparticle,
it can change from a wave form to a point. This is observable in the lab. Other
types of strange behavior of these smallest nanoparticles – which in turn make
up all things big and small - has been known for a long time and can be
replicated. There is little doubt that this strangeness actually occurs.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Einstein himself called
quantum mechanics “spooky” because we could all see <i>what </i>was
happening, but were unable to explain<i> how </i>it is happening. Today,
these issues are still unresolved.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">How does this relate to
Big Data? To understand this, let’s consider:</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Until recently we lived
in the era of “Small Data” which was characterized by the premise of <i>exactitude.</i> Databases
were built to very specific formats and rules, so that they could be relied
upon to retrieve accurate results which perfectly matched the queries we
applied against such data. If you used a spreadsheet to compute data, this is what
you did. Data was smaller in size – because among other things, computing and
storage costs were very high. This in turn meant that databases had to be
precise in order to be useful. Databases tended to answer the <i>causal </i>question: <i>What
is happening and why?</i> It took time to use data this way and actionable
intelligence was, in some cases, delayed. But, that was the cost of using small
data and applying data analytics to it.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Today, the costs of data
storage have shrunk dramatically. Computing power is enormous and climbing.
Enter the era of “Big Data”.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">One of the earlier
examples of Big Data was in healthcare (as Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth
Cukier point out in their bestseller “Big Data”). Back in 2007, the CDC would
go through precise collection of data points, aggregate them and then use that
data to keep track of the spread of flu among the states. They had been doing
the same thing for a while. All of this took time, data had to be collected
from doctors’ offices and hospitals and by the time the CDC statistics were
compiled and published, weeks went by and the data was sometimes already too
old.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Around that time, Google
was testing its algorithms and mathematical models to test search terms. They
found that when users search for 45 terms in specific combinations – that
became a predictor of the flu and was closely mapping the CDC data. Just like
the CDC, Google too could now predict how flu was spreading nationwide, but <i>unlike
the CDC, their data was real-time! </i>And Google did not have to go to
doctors’ offices to get data, they extrapolated it from their users’ searches.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Google’s data model was
not built on the concept of <i>exactitude</i>. Rather it was based on the
use of patterns and correlations to tell us what was happening, not necessarily – how it was happening<i>.</i></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Bureau of Labor is
responsible for computing CPI or the Consumer Price Index. To do this, they
employ thousands of people who report approximately 80,000 prices on everything
from home rentals to the cost of airline tickets and everything in between. Many
things are dependent on CPI including wages, social security amounts etc. CPI
is very important. Again, by the time these numbers come out, they too are
already old. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Then, two economists from
MIT came up with a Big Data solution for CPI. They collected data on 500,000
products in the US – many more than the Bureau of Labor was collecting - and
did so only using the web. Admittedly, their data was “messy” in that it was
not exact – but it
was possible to figure out a CPI equivalent much more quickly. And because they
had much more data, any individual anomalies were less meaningful. This project
is now a commercial venture and everyday thousands of financial institutions
are making decisions based on this work.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">In that sense, Big Data
is the equivalent of quantum mechanics in this storyline. We can see <i>what
is happening</i>, but don’t really know (or maybe even care) <i>how it is exactly
happening</i>? The price of getting actionable intelligence in a timely way, is
an absence of the <i>precise causal</i> questions and answers. Many
are still uncomfortable with this lack of preciseness, and this is only the 2<sup>nd</sup> or
3<sup>rd</sup> inning of the Big Data story. More discomfort is
in store.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Today, a significant
percentage of the trades on Wall Street are driven by computerized Big Data orders.
Healthcare, retail, airlines, hotels – almost everything you can imagine – is
being impacted by Big Data. We haven’t seen nothing yet.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">In the era of Small Data,
accuracy was preeminent because only small data sets were possible and had to
be exact. But, as we delve deeper and deeper into this new world of Big Data,
we are all making a tradeoff: the <i>quality </i>of the information
becomes less important because the <i>volume</i> of the data evens
things out. It is the <i>speed </i>of
decision-making and the new insights we are learning which are becoming
paramount, and all this is being revolutionized by Big Data driven by patterns
and correlations.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #8c0095; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Prof. Einstein would
likely think Big Data too was “spooky” - because just like quantum mechanics -
we know <i>what</i> it does, but don’t go looking for too many
answers on <i>exactly</i> <i>how</i> and
<i>why </i>it got there. You may be disappointed.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-14018876552390658422014-02-24T22:11:00.000-05:002014-02-25T09:49:20.566-05:00The problem with a Cyber-Posse<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfP3vMAd3F4JLU6xQzfpMOcQFz2qoeIecL16FzAdBZjzjhTMhYQvFiisWD313cLWSDcrDcIIH4bs0btMSJVYnHkZrSbNhxVlO2PEfQBXPtUzAMpJQ_Y9m3dtxbKzMijkgBwrjAR0Iv-A8/s1600/posse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfP3vMAd3F4JLU6xQzfpMOcQFz2qoeIecL16FzAdBZjzjhTMhYQvFiisWD313cLWSDcrDcIIH4bs0btMSJVYnHkZrSbNhxVlO2PEfQBXPtUzAMpJQ_Y9m3dtxbKzMijkgBwrjAR0Iv-A8/s1600/posse.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
By some estimates, some data on one out of every two Americans has now been breached. So what can do you about it? Can you - as an individual or even as a corporation - go <em>after </em>those that may have compromised your data? If you are hacked, should you not be able to hack back against those who have stolen things from you?</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Not so fast.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
One of the more interesting discussions on the first day of the RSA Security Conference was: <em>Does the law allow you to be the Cyber-Posse going after those that have compromised your systems and stolen your data?</em></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
The answer might actually surprise you. <strong>As a matter of fact, the law does not allow you to become a cyber vigilante. I</strong>n the USA, you are expressly forbidden from doing just that. Section 18 USC 1030 (a) specifically prohibits this kind of activity.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<em>When it comes to cyber exploitation, there is no room for affirmative defense in the law.</em></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
If after determining who has stolen your data, you decide to go after those criminals - perhaps simply to recover or delete your own data from their systems - you may still be on shaky legal grounds.If you were in Europe, you would hardly be better of. They too limit this kind of activity.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
So there is a conundrum.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
If someone stole property from your home you can go to the police. You may even have some rights to <em>give chase</em> if you apprehended someone in the act. If, on the other hand, someone stole your companies data, you don't have many choices. You cannot really go to the police (most local police are not equipped to deal with such a problem anyway) and in most instances you would realize the theft <em>after the fact</em>. And the law forbids you from <strong><em>hacking the</em><em> hacker.</em></strong><em><br /></em></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
There is a convoluted logic to this law. What if you retaliated against someone who you <em>thought</em> had been the perpetrator? There is strong evidence that the hacking community takes great care to make sure that the overt signs on being discovered, are that someone else did it. If you accessed the systems of the wrong organization/person, thinking they were the ones who attacked and stole from you - you are now the perpetrator. Quite a mess and not one you can easily get out of.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
And because you cannot chase down the hackers easily, and do so within the law, the hacking community is aware of that and may be able to use the existing laws to shield themselves from those who they have compromised and who might be wanting some retribution.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Don't hold your breath. No one is willing to take this on any time soon.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
The only silver lining is that most prosecutors are turning a blind eye to someone who rides out on a Cyber-Posse. Prosecutors have other things to do and they are not too keen to be part of a headline which might read:</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<em><strong>Prosecutor nails lady who tried to delete her own stolen data from the hacker's systems!</strong></em></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<br /></div>
Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-4679279598332929562014-01-01T16:52:00.000-05:002014-01-01T16:52:03.773-05:00The new wave of wearable technology<h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuO1RymZuVb_hZH5SoN3uEG-QUWOKV5CZ0mmd5ib-cRKbS4IgMmrwWLUAwIs5dc4mUXSFqW50SD3Ieexa-osQMNouq5CKbHw9SBdxHiQh9uxYzWq4lM9VyM3iAEEfzUwWgZC8z4W1SdU/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuO1RymZuVb_hZH5SoN3uEG-QUWOKV5CZ0mmd5ib-cRKbS4IgMmrwWLUAwIs5dc4mUXSFqW50SD3Ieexa-osQMNouq5CKbHw9SBdxHiQh9uxYzWq4lM9VyM3iAEEfzUwWgZC8z4W1SdU/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">In many ways, this was
inevitable. As devices got smaller and smarter, it was only a matter of time
before smart technology snuck into what we wear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">In a current <i>UnderArmour</i> TV commercial, a
lady puts on a black jogging suit. Then she steps outside and with the click of
a button on her sleeve, magically transforms her suit into a multicolored
outfit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLlxn_0VV6_UDBV_dH3u_6yAVxMrxhwfODnGhJxdIlz2RcPRmSK68xZxNVPwV82VjQqj0Cn9jhUzsbSaBgN0REZFoaU6WYY_lm7g3nLzlyeRENmMwNNsItMP9cHVU5pXkkVYFJLVzOxqI/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLlxn_0VV6_UDBV_dH3u_6yAVxMrxhwfODnGhJxdIlz2RcPRmSK68xZxNVPwV82VjQqj0Cn9jhUzsbSaBgN0REZFoaU6WYY_lm7g3nLzlyeRENmMwNNsItMP9cHVU5pXkkVYFJLVzOxqI/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">A new wave of devices which
allow ubiquitous social networking on many form factors we wear, provide
constant health data, have chameleon like abilities to change colors, and even take
photos with a wink <i>a la James Bond</i> - these
and more - are no longer the stuff of fantasies from Hollywood. They are about
to become our new reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Experts now believe that 2014 will
be the year when wearable technology finally gets serious and consumers start to
pay close attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So, what is <i>Wearable Technology</i>?</span></b></h3>
<h2>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">For the most part, wearable
technology encompasses what you wear on your body – a strap, a shirt, glasses
or even a band – things that have embedded electronics and are ‘smart’. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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devices may be customizable, and connect to the internet and/or to
other devices via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or NFC (Near-Field-Communication). The
technology which is built into them, has a myriad of new and proposed functionalities,
and they can be upgraded and even enhanced - in some cases by third
parties (like the application developers in iTunes or Google Play). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Wrist Technology:</span></b></h3>
<h2>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Let’s face it. Watches have been
boring for a long time. Other than the occasional forays into incorporating new
gee whiz features of the day (remember the Casio with a calculator), they have steadfastly done just one thing – tell time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">With the arrival of Smartphones,
watches have begun a precipitous decline. Few young people bother to buy a
duplicative device which only tells the time; something they can already check on
the screens of their smartphones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">2013 has brought on the dawn of the
era of smartwatches. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Pebble</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">, selling at $ 150, the biggest
crowdsourcing success in <i>Kickstarter </i>history,
has had a good Christmas season. And even though the <i>Pebble</i> has some shortfalls (principally the battery life and lack
of touchscreen capability), it has succeeded in enabling interesting smart
functionalities and even has limited integration with the phone. It has also attracted
a small but growing number of developers using the open standard to create
additional functionality for the device. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY08MHPGK-x9z_DhayjRmPU-tQhTGUu4Ssfti1yEao3ldNTb82zFciVtv4CVUQriJyrrGwZoCZicIlavI_G6S-ure3EQcSGRPC462CVUuM2eCK_v-5625mXQ8dLRJOgDX3UfTwkW5iv18/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY08MHPGK-x9z_DhayjRmPU-tQhTGUu4Ssfti1yEao3ldNTb82zFciVtv4CVUQriJyrrGwZoCZicIlavI_G6S-ure3EQcSGRPC462CVUuM2eCK_v-5625mXQ8dLRJOgDX3UfTwkW5iv18/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Omate</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13pt;"> is a far more
sophisticated and expensive ($250+) Smartwatch on <i>Kickstarter</i> which should start shipping soon. Unlike the <i>Pebble, Omate</i> has a touchscreen, more
power, and the functionality of a small smartphone on your wrist. It has the
capability to add a micro-SIM card from T-Mobile or AT&T and function as a true
phone. It is built on the Android system and is expected to have applications
downloadable from Google Play. <i>Omate</i>
is relatively simple to navigate and even has a virtual keyboard - though as
you can imagine - space gets limited when one is typing on such a small form
factor. Battery life remains a problem although this one charges wirelessly.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCiIRCYDmQ46x5QRhOt9G9LV8sL8laZRcmLFBulcackLh0cxvVbI6gA3RB3lCV2TAYcCf9J6w6MZd0Ym_T-OzdhdaG64UFdK1J4CwcydcdyF7k2zSifgm4FlXLKyTAUnedODKr5jZ32Q/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCiIRCYDmQ46x5QRhOt9G9LV8sL8laZRcmLFBulcackLh0cxvVbI6gA3RB3lCV2TAYcCf9J6w6MZd0Ym_T-OzdhdaG64UFdK1J4CwcydcdyF7k2zSifgm4FlXLKyTAUnedODKr5jZ32Q/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">The <i>Sony, Qualcomm</i> <i>Toq </i>and <i>Samsung Gear </i>watches have also created a
buzz. Most experts acknowledge that these Version 1 devices are a good start,
but much more work needs to be done. Indeed, <i>Samsung </i>is rumored hard at work on a Version 2 watch which
incorporates <i>curved</i> glass for a
better design and fit. Synchronization of the Smartwatch with other smart
devices - those of your choice – is also gaining traction as customers shy away
from one-size-fits-all methodology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheP7M_Te-QlAbFWVOnQ7d9ullQ9uJVcC79O692-jXJrmAKP5rXgafe7xcyMTu9T10a1Eds531B0UklDoXIJriI1O_hp93g5mtEjGhsZl8jUvIox4W7EgzTyMjAnm2dfynDOwpkzAhRHME/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheP7M_Te-QlAbFWVOnQ7d9ullQ9uJVcC79O692-jXJrmAKP5rXgafe7xcyMTu9T10a1Eds531B0UklDoXIJriI1O_hp93g5mtEjGhsZl8jUvIox4W7EgzTyMjAnm2dfynDOwpkzAhRHME/s320/5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">And then, there are the rumored watches
from <i>Apple, Nokia</i> and even <i>Intel,</i> which are likely to provide more
functionality, better design, more battery life and access to many more
applications. What will this new breed of watches look like? While most such
designs are a closely guarded secret, there is no dearth of those who envision
how they might look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUzKfOixrOT70eZvVhJSFKK8Jw7QHsmuASY0Ee89p23AtaLOrzm2Dp7Ss01wYUajVdz6IP7ApJszrRVBtu831NQkD5SUL1Q0xX_XYLvcy9kd7rkmBz-ea3uReu6anzqypo0VyrQtOv-Y/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUzKfOixrOT70eZvVhJSFKK8Jw7QHsmuASY0Ee89p23AtaLOrzm2Dp7Ss01wYUajVdz6IP7ApJszrRVBtu831NQkD5SUL1Q0xX_XYLvcy9kd7rkmBz-ea3uReu6anzqypo0VyrQtOv-Y/s320/6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7w9efZad9kX4zY2pjDxz40qSb8jMS8U0p40xGX_b56q0gKCty4Ek9kPJP4E4yfJ0Ch3IjKFkdV-KORhHjx5lD2DFLPP6oyg8MPHsTY77Um4PMBkt_EObpsOYGiB4C36yBtJHa1_9JM0Q/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7w9efZad9kX4zY2pjDxz40qSb8jMS8U0p40xGX_b56q0gKCty4Ek9kPJP4E4yfJ0Ch3IjKFkdV-KORhHjx5lD2DFLPP6oyg8MPHsTY77Um4PMBkt_EObpsOYGiB4C36yBtJHa1_9JM0Q/s320/7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">The competition for smartwatches is
heating up, and watches which just tell time may not be in the majority for
very much longer. <i>The times they are a
changing…..</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Wearable tech has also
infiltrated the health fitness craze. Many such gadgets are also worn on the
wrists. Most are niche products like the <i>FitBit,
Nike Fuelband, </i>and <i>Jawbone – </i>to
list just a few. They are really more like a ‘wearable band’ with fitness
related functionalities. Other similar devices monitor heart-rate and expand on
the wearable health functions. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuHVxUZnxeFPm-iOHSrS96F82NwDwV9jWrgefXpM5r8c0r-BWiRUKWnPt0RL9W5eplgSMOlwS9f-T7L5SEJGvacJrxmFb0Tm6-SV8rxudeKXxDDNHm4OWOAQK8XhGrg5flfCeZ5c2B5I/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuHVxUZnxeFPm-iOHSrS96F82NwDwV9jWrgefXpM5r8c0r-BWiRUKWnPt0RL9W5eplgSMOlwS9f-T7L5SEJGvacJrxmFb0Tm6-SV8rxudeKXxDDNHm4OWOAQK8XhGrg5flfCeZ5c2B5I/s320/8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">You can expect to see intense competition in
this niche and these devices are likely to drop in price.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Google Glass:</span></b></h3>
<h2>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuX2apq2DBq7_QPgd4qpb4SMPVUIilSlHf6bzFJ6Em9yxfz8CYmFTjgZkqc2iWVn5ri8S8UvHeK2fV2JAGIUF8rfI73WkkFHv58tVGDQAFP5PUoTIdhSLb9NmgcoYWncjihi2zyx2ICSI/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuX2apq2DBq7_QPgd4qpb4SMPVUIilSlHf6bzFJ6Em9yxfz8CYmFTjgZkqc2iWVn5ri8S8UvHeK2fV2JAGIUF8rfI73WkkFHv58tVGDQAFP5PUoTIdhSLb9NmgcoYWncjihi2zyx2ICSI/s320/9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Google Glass is a very powerful new
wearable technology form factor. Having used one for a few days, I can say firsthand
the potential is exciting - and in many ways - is already a stunning
achievement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">With a tap and a swipe to the
side, Google Glass navigates you step by step. It does not have a keyboard, and
uses the WiFi and Cellular data connections from your phone to connect to the
internet. It incorporates the speech recognition technology which Google has
been building into its devices for many years. This past Christmas (which was a
Wednesday), I asked Google Glass “What day is it?" and was startled by the
video response - the now viral commercial of a camel’s Hump Day office tour! Google Glass has a sense of humor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZYURHmjVeVdzcTcQRUik0aiuIloAcpSA5NyKH9Uq9SZJWAnbrRRnVyvlppEo3r3MjGrCNJJEoyaYrRF9x4gZhkjxbQcTXhIGr8sj_Fmgfi-m0YAtBAOKKLv_dcAYjnjRIrInm0KlLZs/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZYURHmjVeVdzcTcQRUik0aiuIloAcpSA5NyKH9Uq9SZJWAnbrRRnVyvlppEo3r3MjGrCNJJEoyaYrRF9x4gZhkjxbQcTXhIGr8sj_Fmgfi-m0YAtBAOKKLv_dcAYjnjRIrInm0KlLZs/s320/10.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Whether voice activated Google
searches, taking pictures (a wink can take a picture, or videos - which you can
then send to others), reading text into the built in earpiece (also available
in stereo) and even instant translations from other languages – all of this
already works surprisingly well. You can also listen to music with voice
commands as Google Glass pulls the song from Google Play. In fact, if you are a
subscriber to the Google’s Streaming Music service, you can jump the queue and
get your Google Glasses for $ 1500 now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVjzTGQXntfUBr4nrTBSVINNjMfHqdQuRcWS_5MTgcxpZFbKM5CPVmOnI8qYEOjiBxY7b7HBcWYaddb0YFjYIKCJ0yVqRIjhM04nIeMuRUujX5CH92wOPxK8OuD5wQwA50aIhptQPQLg/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVjzTGQXntfUBr4nrTBSVINNjMfHqdQuRcWS_5MTgcxpZFbKM5CPVmOnI8qYEOjiBxY7b7HBcWYaddb0YFjYIKCJ0yVqRIjhM04nIeMuRUujX5CH92wOPxK8OuD5wQwA50aIhptQPQLg/s1600/11.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">The most common thing I hear when
I show the Google Glass functionalities is “That is insane!” And yes, it
already is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Administration of Google Glass is
via <i>MyGlass, </i>an application downloaded
from Google Play on to your smartphone, and then used to install applications via Bluetooth to the Glass. You can use <i>screencasting</i> as a way to mirror what
you see on Google Glass and show it directly on your smartphone’s screen.
Google Glass will also be iOS compatible so that you can use it with your Apple
devices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">The developers, who have created
billions of mobile applications for smartphones and have made them so much more
useful, are presently restrained by Google’s tightly controlled development phase.
But once developers are let loose, one can see a plethora of new applications for
all manner of useful functionality – way beyond anything which we have seen or
can even contemplate thus far. The potential for Google Glass in telemedicine
and learning - to name just a few things - is incredible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Rochester Optical </span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">will begin selling prescription glasses for Google Glass
shortly. <i>Warby Parker</i> is rumored to
be working with Google on all manner of cool frames and a nice set of sunshades
is already available (worked quite well on my Sunday drive). It is still not clear when Google Glass will
be commercially available and what it might cost. Rumors are for a general
release sometime in 2014 with a price tag of about $500. Odds are Google Glass may
become as common as the smartphone - and that, would be a huge market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Other types of Retinal Displays</span></b></h3>
<h2>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">A <i>Virtual Retina Display</i> (VRD) is where one uses a micro-mirror array
and an LED to project 3D images onto the retina. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">There a many new wearable
examples of VRD just around the corner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Avegant Glyph</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> will launch on <i>Kickstarter
</i>in early January 2014. The headphones can be used in a “non-video” mode, or
the headband pulls down over the eyes (as in the picture below) and it becomes
the equivalent of a giant private screen with images projected directly onto
the retina. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefL_lmS-YI9oWBcZAqwchNRxg5XRMmBofTRTUDXevaplIhSUkoKhke5u3LatF5eQp_lp9_Z12CEqlKkwpRfZQoxAHSkq6DcmzeEkuijA2Bvk7_nEKoSIBcqyV4Iu5KdP4OYZzI_J9YPI/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefL_lmS-YI9oWBcZAqwchNRxg5XRMmBofTRTUDXevaplIhSUkoKhke5u3LatF5eQp_lp9_Z12CEqlKkwpRfZQoxAHSkq6DcmzeEkuijA2Bvk7_nEKoSIBcqyV4Iu5KdP4OYZzI_J9YPI/s320/12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Oculus Rift</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> is a new
generation of virtual goggles which might change gaming and will also appear on
<i>Kickstarter </i>in early 2014. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_D3dXj2-m3kXdTyNthvxbjmwqA47m9h1dW9pqy_IWb2xO4VENFxhFalWmMnOZN6zy05mA7g5u1qLTnYdKWc-7hzdOB0SV1EzWoaOCkViTsJ6xUX5hCeM8boyjWj4JasU2bXzNMuL8jo/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_D3dXj2-m3kXdTyNthvxbjmwqA47m9h1dW9pqy_IWb2xO4VENFxhFalWmMnOZN6zy05mA7g5u1qLTnYdKWc-7hzdOB0SV1EzWoaOCkViTsJ6xUX5hCeM8boyjWj4JasU2bXzNMuL8jo/s1600/13.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">The <i>Vuzix M100</i> is described by its manufacturer as “Smart Glasses”. It
is built on the Android system and is essentially a wearable monocular display
computer. Like Google Glass, its manufacturer heralds it as a device with
utility in medical, retail and industrial applications, and leverages the
Android App Store on Google Play allowing developers to create custom
applications for the hardware.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CP-y_BPSk0F-ZP3KyuTYLHi63_S5ell7-sIZ0u-PVHbb8omxrOP0rvngrS25_xSPPIaKMnmRLUE0XSVj3wa-4025pYHcAszgnN-ioBfpFPhVVX97GGeaYbeG12ZWFKQ7IxKd0CMyVr4/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CP-y_BPSk0F-ZP3KyuTYLHi63_S5ell7-sIZ0u-PVHbb8omxrOP0rvngrS25_xSPPIaKMnmRLUE0XSVj3wa-4025pYHcAszgnN-ioBfpFPhVVX97GGeaYbeG12ZWFKQ7IxKd0CMyVr4/s1600/14.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Swimmers, speed skaters and skiers
- to name a few - operate in sports where hundredths of seconds determine the
margin of victory. Access to real time data could prove to be a considerable
differentiator. Now, companies like <i>Recon
Instruments</i> are creating just these kinds of devices with heads-up displays
displaying the data athletes need and even integrates with social networking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXloh7lC0Dszh2LdbGL31NZjrmsQB6k4B-XWxg2s2YQzc84BSgxYJVZBNTP78wiV25pfucp5RQb3bqXAJ8QpomcHicb04ocSFPcirINIi_HCa2-kKSDMYSMG0BC1lCNI1O4vXe3a4NPiU/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXloh7lC0Dszh2LdbGL31NZjrmsQB6k4B-XWxg2s2YQzc84BSgxYJVZBNTP78wiV25pfucp5RQb3bqXAJ8QpomcHicb04ocSFPcirINIi_HCa2-kKSDMYSMG0BC1lCNI1O4vXe3a4NPiU/s320/15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VYX8BIY9ML6IOQ6jiEf1948U5ory-yJGzcNw4G9ZAtTMjQTtNmSJMx5_WmyF3-mMFfzljKJ9NxVVXMsPb9d4x0LtvJ9_OAttvUeDlCYezKSPrH27BMIXen9vYmnhHhTX68esnlUfcdA/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VYX8BIY9ML6IOQ6jiEf1948U5ory-yJGzcNw4G9ZAtTMjQTtNmSJMx5_WmyF3-mMFfzljKJ9NxVVXMsPb9d4x0LtvJ9_OAttvUeDlCYezKSPrH27BMIXen9vYmnhHhTX68esnlUfcdA/s320/16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Wearable technology clothing</span></b></h3>
<h2>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Heapsylon,</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> a new entrant
into the wearable technology niche, creates garments paired with other
technology to provide health related data to patients and caregivers. <i>Sensoria Fitness</i> is a fully instrumented
pair of socks which gathers data as you walk, run and exercise. The washable <i>Sensoria Fitness Bra and T-Shirt</i> can
transmit heart rate data to your smartphone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6xjZ2ZK_dJqutl9RLOMcfTvarcBwLkiyPIN_LzFWvh0MqBdwPHz9Y6NmWPhaqhSA5FYprNuhEuXcxcMOECck7iuB-PyWKhCQ5R5nlYNJ_PLUEB_oeTuaI3rotCM7iJJYBWIXe7BuBd0/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6xjZ2ZK_dJqutl9RLOMcfTvarcBwLkiyPIN_LzFWvh0MqBdwPHz9Y6NmWPhaqhSA5FYprNuhEuXcxcMOECck7iuB-PyWKhCQ5R5nlYNJ_PLUEB_oeTuaI3rotCM7iJJYBWIXe7BuBd0/s320/17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">The <i>GER Mood</i> sweater by <i>Sensoree</i>
interprets emotions and displays your mood instantly as an interactive light
display. Sensors read the body’s excitement levels, and visualizes onto a high
collar for instant b</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13pt;">iofeedback. Wearing your heart on your sleeve (or around
your neck) is now a reality.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlHCWAgXAb8mU4sA4k21WgCXcmGAL1I9H_05zq1wOT7k1E_kGr8daoiaw_yIOsD-ek2BmcS-0TvYkHr0uGAvoA9OQc3Vh4hZMcxFFMiz8-aA_W024eOOLsXxzVNmEf7501kP4etzKUQMU/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlHCWAgXAb8mU4sA4k21WgCXcmGAL1I9H_05zq1wOT7k1E_kGr8daoiaw_yIOsD-ek2BmcS-0TvYkHr0uGAvoA9OQc3Vh4hZMcxFFMiz8-aA_W024eOOLsXxzVNmEf7501kP4etzKUQMU/s320/18.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">UnderArmour</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> already has
the E39 out which is a high tech band and monitors heart rates for athletes. But
clearly they (and others) are working on a new generation of wearable garments with
even more “smart” functionality <i>built
right into them!</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvDhANeg9XUYn8RmS98Rf7PUWmBbslWcSN8m9d8rkl32g-mCz8nAYqZ8d7aPUu3Z7ttHMDzf9qN0WjhicYe8v0HRvxUahYe-TR2eZhDCSKHLYCHMEdrenyR2TRSaxIXq92pl3dQ7Uxk8/s1600/19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvDhANeg9XUYn8RmS98Rf7PUWmBbslWcSN8m9d8rkl32g-mCz8nAYqZ8d7aPUu3Z7ttHMDzf9qN0WjhicYe8v0HRvxUahYe-TR2eZhDCSKHLYCHMEdrenyR2TRSaxIXq92pl3dQ7Uxk8/s1600/19.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6WpTANH-Epk3vnHwZac-wI_Hr8eA2UAHUHdGxCAV3K2O8havfUhaCLdKnSE9Sl-eCO7aeWIAlNS7hggAHAWNsP9c40WEAqwnVcl8W0x4lfyReiOhxo1ntTpIi9trf8lzuieoTi9GbAE/s1600/20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6WpTANH-Epk3vnHwZac-wI_Hr8eA2UAHUHdGxCAV3K2O8havfUhaCLdKnSE9Sl-eCO7aeWIAlNS7hggAHAWNsP9c40WEAqwnVcl8W0x4lfyReiOhxo1ntTpIi9trf8lzuieoTi9GbAE/s320/20.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">OmSignal</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> is a Canadian
company also making bio sensor garments. Stephane Marceau, the founder, says
that over time sensors will increasingly be embedded into the fibers of the
garments and will transmit physiological data in real time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFpDW9OfBNsIIPAvzRwXblnv9KNZD32k9a-BRSYHg17jtASXEsl6MyLNDeQie-7a6sIYAcZj_i6YWoPhmm-1_TDxouf4YJ1Da5JcS7fKhPqCRcsbFrKJyO5BLERHv1yjeZxEdF-8KRYU/s1600/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFpDW9OfBNsIIPAvzRwXblnv9KNZD32k9a-BRSYHg17jtASXEsl6MyLNDeQie-7a6sIYAcZj_i6YWoPhmm-1_TDxouf4YJ1Da5JcS7fKhPqCRcsbFrKJyO5BLERHv1yjeZxEdF-8KRYU/s320/21.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">…and then this.</span></b></h3>
<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.75pt;">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Sony has recently filed a patent for a “SmartWig”. The device
would wirelessly communicate with other devices, and among its proposed uses, assist
the blind with navigation - and the wigs look cool too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h2>
<h2>
<b> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkBdQN8e0oZ-bMxWzUCNEeiFMAs7lhrb9zUIW3lXO-WJo7TiiPpQOIN3Lj5KVZoXoRcl6XGNMdoVBVbsXrNfBLowZEtMLKEyBR4ven3ZD7KyPWVLjK0jmlO9yQqikWGrsJD1DMQE9LK0/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkBdQN8e0oZ-bMxWzUCNEeiFMAs7lhrb9zUIW3lXO-WJo7TiiPpQOIN3Lj5KVZoXoRcl6XGNMdoVBVbsXrNfBLowZEtMLKEyBR4ven3ZD7KyPWVLjK0jmlO9yQqikWGrsJD1DMQE9LK0/s1600/22.jpg" /></a></div>
</b></h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Who is financing wearable tech?</span></b></h3>
<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Foxconn is a Taipei Chinese
company where – by some estimates – 400,000 people work to create some of the
smartest electronics we use including iPhones, iPads etc. It is the fourth
largest technology company in the world by revenue. Bloomberg now reports that Foxconn
has setup a seed fund of $ 6.8 million for trials in 2014 for a slate of new<i> wearable technology</i> products. They are
also rumored to be working on the Apple’s <i>iWatch</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Other companies in the wearable
hardware market have raised close to $570M and include big names like <i>Khosla Ventures</i> run by Vinod Khosla, who
among other ventures also founded <i>Sun
Microsystems.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Jawbone</span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> alone has
obtained over $ 93 million in additional funding in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Crowdfunding on places like <i>Kickstarter</i> raises significant dollars
for individual projects and many of them are substantially “oversubscribed” due
to their popularity. There seems to be an insatiable amount of support for
wearable technology from a core techie group of individuals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The potential</span></b></h3>
<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">A <i>Harris Poll</i> in November 2013 surveyed 2,250 adults on their
familiarity with wearable technology. One in four Americans indicated they are
not familiar with such devices, and another third reported never hearing the
term previously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Among those that do know about
wearable technology, price remains a major hurdle. Not surprisingly a vast
majority (83%) of <i>Echo Boomers</i> or <i>Millennials</i> are more likely to try
wearable technology, and men are similarly more inclined than are women.<i> </i></span><span style="color: #464646; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Analysts at Credit Suisse suggest
the wearable tech market will grow from $1.4bn in annual sales this year to
$50bn by 2018. In 2014, shows like CES and others will profile many new
wearable technologies. Already media outlets are buzzing with the possibilities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">We can each envision the good,
the bad, and even the ugly possibilities such offerings might conjure up; but a
new <i>haute tech couture</i> of wearables
is clearly upon us. The true test will be when we begin to wear technology and
forget that we are in fact wearing it. It will have become second nature, much
like the smartphone that most of us now carry, and barely give it a second
thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</h2>
Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-33843036167560672432013-10-07T15:09:00.000-04:002013-10-07T17:27:39.367-04:00What will IT do now?<h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxmHRQ46AXzVjZja1mwpU376U1eea5IILMHGvELjL57kRpVJSDiVOLGtsCySVe0qWGiLzjHtiVmETR49J09IrSLH96PCeRCTzDlkx4tEGO9WTRo7eNQWfgfa0lH8g91GzofjU7f2HkIw/s1600/the+future.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxmHRQ46AXzVjZja1mwpU376U1eea5IILMHGvELjL57kRpVJSDiVOLGtsCySVe0qWGiLzjHtiVmETR49J09IrSLH96PCeRCTzDlkx4tEGO9WTRo7eNQWfgfa0lH8g91GzofjU7f2HkIw/s1600/the+future.jpg" /></a></div>
</h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #7030a0;"><br /></span></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #7030a0;">2003: First, Back to the Future</span><span style="color: #7030a0;"> </span></span></h2>
<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Back in May 2003, Nicholas Carr wrote a piece in the Harvard Business
Review provocatively titled “<i>IT Doesn’t
Matter</i>”. That triggered a firestorm, and legions came to defend the IT
folks whom this article seemed to malign and marginalize. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“<i>Of course, IT matters!</i>” became the rallying cry and
card-carrying members of the IT profession responded in droves.</span></div>
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Ten years after the first printing of that article, it is worthwhile to
take a look back at Carr’s hypothesis and see where we are. Was he right?</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Contrary to popular assumption and headlines, Carr actually
wrote that “</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">no one would dispute that
information technology has become the backbone of commerce”. </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was not trying to undermine the importance of the
sector. But, he did add that, <i>“By now, the core functions of IT—data
storage, data processing, and data transport—have become available and
affordable to all”.</i> He hypothesized that IT is not a strategic advantage
anymore - <i>because scarcity - not ubiquity</i> of a product is the
differentiator, and IT’s core functions had already become ubiquitous. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">With the proliferation of technology and the
reductions in cost, he surmised that IT had become just another commodity. Most
now believe he got that right.</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But the real gem, hidden away in that article,
was this prediction</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">:</span></h2>
<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.5in;">
<b><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">More and more,
companies will fulfill their IT requirements simply by purchasing fee-based
“Web services” from third parties—similar to the way they currently buy
electric power or telecommunications services.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Carr did not call it “Cloud Services” or IaaS,
or SaaS, or even PaaS (or any of the daily new variants of the *-as-a-Service),
but he might as well have. In my view, the vision to see that technology
resources will become commoditized in <i>that </i>manner, and that
infrastructure would transition to an off-premises environment - and
organizations would be paying for the <i>functional use of technology</i> being
hosted, supported, upgraded and maintained by others – that, was his unique insight.
The concept had been in discussion before Carr (John McCarthy in the 1960s
discussed <i>“computation may someday be
organized as a public utility”</i>), but Carr may have been one of the first to
articulate it so precisely. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In retrospect, Carr clearly got this outsourcing
revolution right; perhaps even more than he had imagined in 2003.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">IT in 2013 and
beyond</span></span></div>
</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
<h3>
<b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The changing landscape</span></span></b></h3>
<h3>
<b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In order to
consider what IT will do, we need to understand the major disruptors which we
face:</span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #7030a0; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><b><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><u>Cloud</u></span></b><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The movement of data, applications and a
variety of IT services to third parties, hosted and managed off-premises.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><b><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><u>Mobile Devices and applications</u></span></b><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The “Consumerization” of technology defined by
the influx of personal devices into the enterprise.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The coming revolution in mobile apps for the
delivery of enterprise information.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The shift from devices to services.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Movement from Bring-your-own-devices (BYOD) to Bring-your-own-application
(BYOA).<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><b><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><u>Security and collaboration</u></span></b><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Challenges of managing personal devices in the
enterprise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The impact of enterprise data in the ‘Personal
cloud’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Real time collaboration and the need for speed
and rapid turnarounds.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ubiquitous access on any device from anywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">4. <b><u>Big Data and mining</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The consolidation of data into very large sets.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The analysis of this data using sophisticated
Business Intelligence (BI) tools.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cognitive computing and the movement of analytics
from specialists to consumers of that data.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Use of ‘Search’ morphing into actionable
analytics</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<h3>
<span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Cloud:<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeskYDLdL2EodJXnOCxgzGfk5p_wO8NoPjrIUryOalDxcpWYhW89hi9-iIzfpyjzxP9OXqmqZRtteuti6BdMzt6O1aC3w-EtnT_KmmzQFOJ5govYeq9buxhSnlRqDzllOKBpzyRcwIABM/s1600/cloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeskYDLdL2EodJXnOCxgzGfk5p_wO8NoPjrIUryOalDxcpWYhW89hi9-iIzfpyjzxP9OXqmqZRtteuti6BdMzt6O1aC3w-EtnT_KmmzQFOJ5govYeq9buxhSnlRqDzllOKBpzyRcwIABM/s1600/cloud.jpg" /></a></div>
<div>
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<h2>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Among the changes we are seeing, none is more disruptive than the Cloud.
What was an aberration for most organizations, is now a hard reality with numerous
choices and changes. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The movement of technology assets to an off-premise environment, the
challenges of that transition, and then managing this new environment – is a
change comparable in magnitude to the advent of the first LANs.</span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The on-premises server environments were set up and created with
expensive infrastructure costs. When you added the expenses for servers, racks,
batteries, backup systems, HVAC etc., these server-rooms did not come cheap. <i>And
now, the servers are leaving the building….</i>someone will have to calculate the cost of all these soon to be abandoned spaces.</span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this new paradigm, as servers are finding new homes among the clouds,
desktops are likely to follow suit (yes that is next). The major software application
vendors are actively encouraging customers (organization and individuals alike)
to move to a cloud model, or face increased costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The manner in which we are paying for these cloud services is a major
financial change too. <i>We don’t buy
hardware and software anymore, we lease it. </i>For the C-Suite, the movement
of expenses from CapEx to OpEx is creating its own challenges. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Depreciation of these
assets may be a thing of the past.</span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, in this environment, how is IT changing? The skills to manage these
changes, necessarily requires some realignment too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I have asked Systems Engineers or Systems Administrators,
who are currently responsible for racks of servers: <i>What will you be doing a
couple of years from now?</i> – a troubling response is more the norm, rather
than the exception. Most think that they will magically follow the servers to
wherever these assets are headed. If only they fully registered how many people
are <i>actually</i> running the datacenters for the Amazons, Google and
Microsoft’s of the world – they would panic! The truth is there aren’t that
many that are needed to run these enormous data repositories. </span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The era of
multitudes of Systems Engineers and Systems Administrators managing server rooms in every organization, is approaching an
end. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The horse carriage
mechanics will need to find something else to do, because a different mode of
transportation is already here</span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those in denial also seem to hide behind two
other common contentions:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Don’t worry, it won’t happen here”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“My management is worried about security in the cloud”. </span></i><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first seems to imply either that we have ‘special’ data which cannot
be moved to the cloud; or, that the costs of moving are prohibitive and would
never work for <i>this</i> organization. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The primary reason for movement to cloud alternatives is in fact cost. <i>It
is far cheaper to place assets in the cloud, than to host them internally, and
the prices are falling!</i> The ‘teaser’ prices which everyone thought would go
through the roof once you have made the initial move to the cloud, <i>are
actually coming down even more.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those concerned about security in the cloud need to consider two
questions: </span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Are you personally doing any online banking? (</i>Most of us now do)</span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Do you know
that the CIA has signed a $ 650 million a year contract for their data with
Amazon?</i> </span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">And why is it that you are comfortable with your personal banking data in
the cloud but not the enterprises? Besides the CIA, the FAA has data in the cloud, the FDA has data in
the cloud and so do multitudes of government, nonprofit and for-profit
organizations. Yes, there are some nuances between hybrid, private and public
clouds – nothing is 100% secure (not even on-premises) -but most experts now believe that the movement of data out of the
organizations is inevitable. Even the naysayers acknowledge that it is a <i>matter of time.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are all getting vested in cloud services, personally and
professionally. Gartner, in its 2014 predictions, now rates the individual’s <i>Private
Cloud </i>as a new disruptive technology trend. The <i>Personal Consumerization</i>
<i>of the Cloud</i> is here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In June 2013, IDC forecast that over the next three years, 14 million
Cloud related jobs will be created globally (</span><b><u><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://tinyurl.com/6ubr53g</span></span></u></b><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you are an IT person and looking for a sustainable and in-demand
job, or if you are a current systems engineer, you should pay close attention. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cloud
certifications and skills will be in great demand.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mobile Devices and applications<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuQx2SwXff7s5Sa_TlYi6RAN7Y32h1EzQ1yq7EWpwSOPlBJmU4qn5f6EqAY8nMTrzLVTWLRit1zKuG1ECAZxvcbyCdxmGt7pFWKOUN0IX8HwwnvmDqEMZDAkeGXJJy_Z5FRRpcVyE1nw/s1600/BYOD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuQx2SwXff7s5Sa_TlYi6RAN7Y32h1EzQ1yq7EWpwSOPlBJmU4qn5f6EqAY8nMTrzLVTWLRit1zKuG1ECAZxvcbyCdxmGt7pFWKOUN0IX8HwwnvmDqEMZDAkeGXJJy_Z5FRRpcVyE1nw/s1600/BYOD.jpg" /></a></div>
</o:p></span></h3>
<h2>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As the Consumerization of IT takes hold, we must prepare for the tsunami
of personal devices coming to invade our enterprises. People are doing more
enterprise work on personal devices. Gartner estimates that for the first time,
<i>in 2013, more mobile device will be sold
than desktops in the USA.</i> A critical tipping point has been reached.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this environment, who owns the devices, who manages it, who allows it
access and even who has the authority to remove data from it – are all issues
which IT will have to work through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Several acronyms are the language of this new discussion. BYOD
(Bring-your-own-device) is one of the more popular among them. Should the
enterprise provide devices on which staff do their organizational work, or should staff
bring their own?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A few years ago, we faced the same issue with phones. Initially, phones
were handed out by the organization to those that needed them for work. Soon,
phones became cheaper, more powerful and started coming in multitudes of
flavors and operating systems. Users began demanding that they be allowed to
use their “weapon of their choice”. Enterprises succumbed. And thus was born
BYOP (bring your own phone). Today, using your own phone for email etc. is far
more common than using enterprise supplied phones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The same thing is happening with other devices. In fact, some among us have
talked about the advent of a ‘cafeteria’ plan for technology, where the staff
would be given a stipend to buy the technology of their choice on which to do
their work. I can hear the question in your minds “<i>Who will fix these hundreds if not thousands of devices, when something goes wrong with
them?”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The simple answer is: <i>The
manufacturer of that device will fix it.</i> In fact, none of these devices can
be repaired by the IT staff even today. Or, at least they shouldn’t be. Do you
want to void the warranty on an iPad by opening it, trying to “fix” it? Open an
iPhone? Someone’s Smartwatch next? No, IT will not do this. In fact as BYOD
takes hold, there will be less to fix, not more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A whole new class of devices under the label of Internet of Things (IoT)
is also headed our way. Mobile devices like smartphones and iPads are not the
only things we will have to worry about (for more information on IoT read my
blog at: </span><span style="color: #7030a0;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/lp5egb4"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://tinyurl.com/lp5egb4</span></a></span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This leads to the other change in IT skill sets. As less <i>Brake-Fix</i> (the colloquial term used in some IT
departments to indicate the work done to fix technology) is required - going forward, IT departments will be doing less of
this kind of support. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Help Desk </span></i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">will look different when there is less to fix. Help Desk staff should pay heed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gartner also predicts that an average enterprise will be managing a
median of 25 mobile applications. A new breed of mobile application developers
and vendors is going to find new customers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gartner also alerts us to a BYOA (bring-your-own-application) era. In
this environment, users will be allowed to use the application of their choice,
an extension of being able to use the device of their choice. For example, can
a user use any email client, as long as they can access the enterprise email
system? Why not? And yes, there are some things around security which will need
to be worked out here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But there are already big changes in this area. These will require a
recalibration of IT skills and even policies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</h2>
<h3>
<span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Security and Collaboration<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXB1iWJvfsY9vWBYO0Dgq8K8kwMxFVzFUdcPEbyM8FI3P0WKtpUO1k5ZEFKds3VR_uTTOR1RJttsji09trAH2XDfDw2NXgP8Tq5J-Kmc76GayMcwhp0Ar5ytuZ-KfjH2HgtwZK-hdCms/s1600/security.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXB1iWJvfsY9vWBYO0Dgq8K8kwMxFVzFUdcPEbyM8FI3P0WKtpUO1k5ZEFKds3VR_uTTOR1RJttsji09trAH2XDfDw2NXgP8Tq5J-Kmc76GayMcwhp0Ar5ytuZ-KfjH2HgtwZK-hdCms/s1600/security.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being able to secure data, regardless of where it resides and where it
is being requested from, is a monumental challenge for the transformative IT.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Into this mix comes a new vocabulary driven by MDM (mobile device
management), VDI (virtual desktops), VDA (Virtual desktop applications) and a
security fabric which allows control and management of disparate end points.</span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The need for rapid turnarounds now requires the use of new tools for the
new real-time collaboration environments. For the users, this is a big change.
The skill sets to be able to assist in such transformations and move enterprises
away from the traditional flat-file architectures to cloud options, will be in
great demand. This will not be easy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">IT staff with security certifications will also be in demand. Security
will become an even more important requirement at most levels of the new IT
hierarchy. The enterprise data will have to be secured in a myriad of new
places, some of which the IT department will not control, at least not in the way
we always have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<span style="background: white; color: #7030a0; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Big Data and mining<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h2>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nothing gets attention these days like Big Data and Business Intelligence
(BI). These are the new buzzwords and there are big dollars at stake. </span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">With the
cheap storage options now available, petabytes of data are now stored in
servers. What does all this data mean? What can we do with it? And, does
it provide answers to make the enterprise a better, more efficient, productive and competitive
undertaking?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">That is the world of Big Data. Thus far, it has been the realm of
‘specialists’ and data miners using complex BI tools to extract the nectar of
the data. BI tools are expensive and require a lot of expertise.</span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But this too is changing. ‘<i>Cognitive computing</i>’, says Gartner, is when
ordinary users will be able to use common ways to be able to get access to
analytics and thus make the outcomes from that data far more actionable. In
fact, the time when you should be able to use common <i>search methodologies</i> to mine
complex data – is also not far away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In many ways this question of how we make use of data to become more
efficient and productive, is the new frontier. It is the place where technology
changes its stripes. </span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Technology must help in advancing the mission and
profitability of the organization and move from being a <i>cost center</i> to becoming
<i>a full partner in the revenues and
solutions aspects of the business.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</h2>
<h3>
<span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">So, what will IT
do?</span></span></h3>
<h2>
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<b><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">There are several areas in which this
transformed IT will need to participate.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">a)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Increasingly, IT will need to be <i>Strategists</i>; to become the bridge
between what is technically possible and what needs to be solved. They will
need to become the interlocutors when users are stymied by “<i>How do we ask for something we don’t know
exists?”</i></span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">b)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">IT will need to be able to extract and analyze business processes, and identify
those that could benefit from technology solutions. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">This is more of a systems analyst and business
analyst role and such certifications will likely remain in high demand.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">c)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">IT will be a full partner in the revenue
producing elements of the business. IT as a cost center is becoming less
important. The cost elements which are generally infrastructural, will be
transitioning to third parties. This in turn will allow IT to focus on revenue
producing projects and similar initiatives of the enterprise. IT budgets may also start
dissipating into departmental and project budgets where such initiatives are traditionally 'owned'.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">d)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Big Data and data mining will make IT and the Marketing functions draw
ever closer. Currently, marketing is the primary consumer of Big Data. Already,
in some organizations the largest part of a technology budget is also targeted to
the needs of the marketing department. New titles like CMIO (Chief Marketing
Information Officer) are emerging. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">e)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Program management to deliver solutions on time
and on budget, are also gaining more traction. Foundational certifications like
Project Management will be more in demand. IT staff, who have been perennially
blamed for over budget and delayed projects, will have to deliver on time and
on budget, like any other unit in an enterprise. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">f)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mobility solutions and applications will
proliferate. Delivery of content is changing to a different form factor and mobile
will dominate. Desktop and server management, on the other hand, will decline.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">g)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Security concerns arising from personal devices and even the
Internet-of-Things (IeT) will become more prevalent. Management of mobile
applications and security of data <i>on all
things</i> connected to the internet - will become a core IT function.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">h)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Analytics will get embedded into the user GUI.
Actionable intelligence driven by easy to use interfaces will become a
differentiator, and IT will be under pressure to deliver such solutions.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Light";">i)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">BYOD (Bring your own device) will get a lot of
traction and the active “brake-fix” support of user devices, will fade as the
consumerization of computing accelerates, and ownership transfers from
organizations to users. Budgets will be impacted by this change.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjsZDgZFImRr7bMi6sXVcklRKperFObfhZqVN4Vpw8d7kEhzuJtZcQrA_bVAQmBaqnUqtv6xjXzqNbCWCNeHn3GXB2hdF_mNc7VSJ8vx5SqVObWJfOBBB8bYHNkGmJHsxUsROovTkjhk/s1600/IT+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjsZDgZFImRr7bMi6sXVcklRKperFObfhZqVN4Vpw8d7kEhzuJtZcQrA_bVAQmBaqnUqtv6xjXzqNbCWCNeHn3GXB2hdF_mNc7VSJ8vx5SqVObWJfOBBB8bYHNkGmJHsxUsROovTkjhk/s1600/IT+2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One thing is clear. IT stands at a transformational
cross roads. A major change in the manner in which we use technology is underway.
In many ways, this is the maturation of the promise of the internet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Segoe UI Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unless IT is able to reinvent itself, the future
will be a difficult one. In my conversations, I am finding that the same
resistance to change which inflicts some of the user community - is now
afflicting the IT folks too. Since we are the original change agents, we really
have no excuse. <i>We should be good at pivoting and accepting and embracing
change, shouldn’t we?</i></span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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a strong suit of business management skill sets, and the ability to bring the
two elements together.<i> </i></span></div>
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upon us. </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Segoe UI Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-39179720115622956322013-08-19T13:13:00.001-04:002013-08-21T17:30:51.011-04:00‘Change’ in Your Wallet? Bitcoins and the Future of Money<br />
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When credit cards first arrived, there were legions of
skeptics who were not impressed. Today, cash comprises less than 7% of the
money supply in the US. Most of us carry multiple credit cards and a world without
them is almost unthinkable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">More recently, online bill payment has suffered from the
same malady. The fact that banks routinely provide this service for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">free</i>, and sending a check in the mail <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually costs you money</i> in stamps,
envelopes, checks etc. is not enough. The cynics are adamant, and there are
plenty of them around. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Get ready. Another change is in the offing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is still early days, but a revolution is in the making.
Names like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple,
Namecoin, PPCoin, Terracoin, DigitalCoin </i>etc. are entering our
consciousness and the media is beginning to follow with interest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">You know it is getting serious when Congress and the Feds
take note. Last week, on August 13, 2013 the Senate Committee on Homeland
Security </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">announced plans</span><span style="color: #c00000;"> to probe <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin,
</i>the digital currency, and the regulatory regime (or lack thereof) that
governs it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c55a11; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #C55A11; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent2; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For the moment, let’s answer some basic questions on Digital
Currency and how it works.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is digital (and
crypto) currency?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Digital currency is </span><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">electronic money</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> that
acts as </span><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">alternative currency</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. This currency is not
produced by any government-endorsed </span><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">central banks</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.
But it is real money and can be used to buy goods and services.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cryptocurrency is
a type of </span><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">digital currency</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>, is an example of a digital cryptocurrency.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">More about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoins</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;">Bitcoin</span></i><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"> is the most famous of the
cryptocurriencies. It first made an appearance in 2009 and was created by Satoshi
Nakamoto, a pseudonym for a person or group, whose identity still remains unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once acquired, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>
resides in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">digital wallets</i> and is
paid from there. You don’t need a computer for that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;">Bitcoin</span></i><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"> has no regulator and only exists in a
peer-to-peer network that is verified by its users. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(More on that below). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> lets you send money to anyone online, anywhere in the world,
and for less than one cent per transaction. So, it has very low overhead and
virtually no extra charges.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;">Bitcoin</span></i><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"> has speculative value (like other
regular currencies) and can also be changed into other major currencies. The
price of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> spiked to an
all-time high of $266 on April 10, 2013. It currently hovers at $ 114.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How do you get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are two ways to get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s.
You can create them, or buy them in the open market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us reading this will buy them with
our “normal” money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s are first
created by a process called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mining</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepihYN_TIdv7sf7281hd7t0glqmiAgz9VHapWTHyV8D8fDYXdPOmWFP4uVTBhMcpeJbU1q33ppEMpLkma7lR42_wefDBKvIBchbmp-FMEjH_WoclV3-dWXQnvDvxx45QbvoH5MPq3wSA/s1600/bitcoin+miner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepihYN_TIdv7sf7281hd7t0glqmiAgz9VHapWTHyV8D8fDYXdPOmWFP4uVTBhMcpeJbU1q33ppEMpLkma7lR42_wefDBKvIBchbmp-FMEjH_WoclV3-dWXQnvDvxx45QbvoH5MPq3wSA/s1600/bitcoin+miner.jpg" /></a></div>
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mining</i>? Think
of this as the ledger the old guy atop the pulpit in Mary Poppins has at the
bank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All transactions with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s must be captured in this one big
electronic “book”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each new transaction
is crossed-checked in the “book” to verify that Jack indeed has the 200 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s he says he has and that he is
now giving them to Corporation Z (in return for some service or goods).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the transaction is verified, it gets
added in the “book”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the process
continues.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For the technically inclined, a little more detail in the blue font
below: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Mining</span></i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> is a process which
collects <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> transactions from the
internet (e.g. John pays Susan 5 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s
etc.) and bundles them into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blocks</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since there is no central authority, the
transactions have to be verified in a peer-to-peer network of computers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">These <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blocks</i> strung
together, create one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">authoritative block
chain</i> which does not allow any duplicate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blocks</i>, and is a list of <u>all</u> transactions approved to date.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The way <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> makes
sure there is only one block chain is by making blocks really hard to produce.
So instead of just being able to make blocks at will, miners have to compute
a special </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0070c0; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">cryptographic
hash</span><span style="color: #0070c0;"> of the block that meets specific
criteria.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Mining for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s
involves an enormous amount of computer power. (Recently the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0070c0; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Australian Broadcasting Corporation</span><span style="color: #0070c0;"> caught an employee using the company's servers to
generate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s without
permission). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> has reached a
stage where miners are using </span><span style="color: #0070c0; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">special machines</span><span style="color: #0070c0;"> that are useless for anything else.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVje_W8aOvPl7QRXRPygqw7ZTpwEIypyCE6XhHpDtL-xfJFaIsOKl-rrHzRhhku_KXw6z9TdF8sYsYH-UjQov4481UKdz9blmqkdPNZss6NCfXgWR7BhOfF17E1Dn-qxPJwlr1VPdIq8Y/s1600/bitcoin+server.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVje_W8aOvPl7QRXRPygqw7ZTpwEIypyCE6XhHpDtL-xfJFaIsOKl-rrHzRhhku_KXw6z9TdF8sYsYH-UjQov4481UKdz9blmqkdPNZss6NCfXgWR7BhOfF17E1Dn-qxPJwlr1VPdIq8Y/s1600/bitcoin+server.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The difficulty of the criteria for the hash is continually
adjusted based on how frequently blocks are being found. So, it doesn’t get
easier. This also allows <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s to
be produced in a predictable and limited rate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When
you do hit the lottery and find a hash “good enough to count”, you get rewarded
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Bitcoin</span></i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> circulation will not
exceed 21 million and a little over 11 million have already been mined. The prediction is
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">block</i> #6,929,999, which will
take the total number of coins in circulation to its maximum level of
20,999,999.9769, will not be generated until 2140. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If 21 million coins doesn’t sound like a lot for an entire
currency, then consider how a single <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>
can be divided. Most currencies have two decimal places e.g. $1.00 is 100
cents. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> is different – it has
eight decimal places. With 21 million <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s
in circulation, that’s a total of 2,100,000,000,000,000 smallest ‘units’ of
currency when the network is operating at full capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">All
of this sounds like a lot of geeky work, and frankly, it is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What
if you just wanted to go out and ‘buy’ some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s?
Well, there are several currency exchanges which allow you to buy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">These
include <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.mtgox.com/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Mt. Gox</span></a>, <a href="https://www.bitstamp.net/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Bitstamp</span></a>, <a href="https://campbx.com/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">CampBX</span></a>, <a href="https://www.intersango.com/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Intersango</span></a>, <a href="https://www.cavirtex.com/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Virtex </span></a></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What can I actually buy
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s? <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Merchants around the world accept these
currencies. From bakeries in San Francisco, a sock manufacturer in
Massachusetts, online casinos to even a dentist in Finland. They all accept <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An
increasing number of physical stores, restaurants and other venues accept <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can find lots of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>-related services on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin
Wiki</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You
can check out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>'s largest
online auction house at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.bitmit.net/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.bitmit.net</span></a><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Turn
your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s into gift cards from
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and many more at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.spendbitcoins.com/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">SpendBitcoins.com</span></a></i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Or
buy music, ebooks and other downloadable content at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.coindl.com/"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">CoinDL</span></a>.com<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is all this safe?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
source code for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> is free and is
public, which means that just about every hacker in the world has had a crack
at it. And thus far, they’ve all come to the same conclusion: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">surprisingly, it really works</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But
this does not mean there have not been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>
thefts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On 19 June 2011, a security breach of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Mt.Gox</span></i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>
exchange caused the nominal price of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>
to fraudulently drop to one cent on the Mt.Gox exchange, after a hacker
allegedly used credentials from an Mt.Gox auditor's compromised computer
illegally to transfer a large number of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s
to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In September 2012<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Bitfloor</i>,
a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> exchange, also reported
being hacked, with 24,000 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s
being stolen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On 3 April 2013, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Instawallet</i>,
a web-based wallet provider, was hacked resulting in the theft of over 35,000<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s worth $4.6 million<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just this past week, Google has confirmed the existence of a
critical Android flaw that put <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>
wallets created on Android devices at risk of theft. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now Systech, a high profile digital forensics company is
offering a Bitcoin tracing service.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<h3 style="background: white; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></h3>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is where this gets
more interesting (and why they are becoming so popular…)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;">In July 2013, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins best known
for their part in the creation of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Facebook</span><span style="color: #c00000;">, filed a proposal with securities regulators that would
allow any investor to trade <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s,
just as if they were stocks. The twins also own 1% of all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s that have been mined to date. They are betting on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nT9hLp7k1EnDgVBkaxG7WsbgLrNDughxqKdsbWa8ANzs6GrEMaYN4lNTgkO9xAG4TzyowS7V9r3KoBY5Gj7JCwvwxAMRvVRhRbUeToTyG1w-2MneyAocRddNCS1vTAqtiE0bHi-dQiE/s1600/Bitcoin-tmagArticle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nT9hLp7k1EnDgVBkaxG7WsbgLrNDughxqKdsbWa8ANzs6GrEMaYN4lNTgkO9xAG4TzyowS7V9r3KoBY5Gj7JCwvwxAMRvVRhRbUeToTyG1w-2MneyAocRddNCS1vTAqtiE0bHi-dQiE/s320/Bitcoin-tmagArticle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When
Cyprus (and then Spain) went through financial doldrums earlier in the year and
the government was threatening to take over the bank accounts of ordinary citizens,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i> use spiked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even
with trade sanctions, there is one currency in Iran that has kept its value and
can be used to buy goods from abroad: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Bitcoins are also the
currency of choice for a number of illegal activities.</span></i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This is in fact the
reason for Congress’s interest in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>s.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silk Road</i>, is a marketplace hidden in
an anonymized part of the web called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tor</i>.
On June 1, 2011, Adrian Chen published an </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">article</span><span style="color: #c00000;"> headlined “The Underground Website Where You Can
Buy Any Drug Imaginable”. Carnegie Mellon Professor Nicholas Christin studied the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silk Road</i> and concluded that law
enforcement authorities could stop it by disrupting its use of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>. All of this caused an uproar and
Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer wrote to the Attorney General and demanded
that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silk Road</i> be taken down (a
futile request in this world of globalized networks).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;">Bitcoin</span></i><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;">s
still are the only currency accepted on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silk
Road</i> and with online arms merchant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Executive
Outcomes</i> too.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt;">And finally, Bitcoins are
anonymous, so no TAXES. Think about that….the Cayman’s and their safe-haven
cousins are all paying very close attention.</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What
about other variations of digital currencies:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are several other variations of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>, each experimenting with some of
the shortfalls of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin</i>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Litecoin is less dependent on the activity of a
small number of dedicated miners with expensive equipment, and allows a larger
pool of miners to compete. It is also able to validate transactions in a few
minutes, much faster than Bitcoin (which can take 10-60 minutes).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtMiONuYJRG398Qhp1BgaykyQyU_DclefSWfUQk0xpjXm9lDdPrHa32F3PaLTc6j-nDBiBQVRHlKi2AO273K4tjseaKaWJ5KjByeQjScoMgyK1bs4pNI-tpwZ9Zc6kQ_tkWZbcJEqFWo/s1600/litecoin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtMiONuYJRG398Qhp1BgaykyQyU_DclefSWfUQk0xpjXm9lDdPrHa32F3PaLTc6j-nDBiBQVRHlKi2AO273K4tjseaKaWJ5KjByeQjScoMgyK1bs4pNI-tpwZ9Zc6kQ_tkWZbcJEqFWo/s320/litecoin.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">PPCoin’s design is intended to gradually phase
out conventional mining altogether. Instead these are awarded in a kind of
lottery.</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You discount digital
currency at your own risk. Admittedly this is still an experiment. But, a lot
of good ideas start as a techie experiment. The internet itself, was one such
experiment. Digital currencies are not going away. They are changing and
adapting to the customer and even to the regulators. There is a desire to play
in the mainstream of payment options. Traditional financial product companies
are looking on with great interest and even perhaps even a little <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">angst.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></div>
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Digital Currency put the makers of leather wallets out of business? Time will
tell.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
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Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-249760661061531872013-08-10T18:25:00.000-04:002014-03-06T12:17:16.101-05:00Who is really making the decisions for you?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">All our lives we are told to make the right decisions. When we are young, our parents tell us to do the right thing. As we age, becoming adults, our bosses tell us that we need to make the right decisions for the organization. Our spouses inevitably applaud and pan the choices and decisions we make. Our kid’s second guess our actions and our friends wonder what made us do that anyway? And so it goes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All of this makes a basic assumption: <em><strong>We are the ones making these choices. We actively choose something. And, we can change our choices</strong>.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But who really makes the decisions we end up making? Do we in fact have control over that?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Most people would respond to that question with an emphatic, “Of course, I do. Who else would?”</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-size: large;">There is now startling new research which indicates that we are in fact not making the decisions we think we are making. At least, not in the way one assumes. </span></em></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Neuroscience experiments using fMRI machines have now shown that what we think are conscious decisions are actually being made <em>before we are in fact conscious of them at all!</em> In other words, before we are conscious of making a choice, it has already been made for us in a deeper subconscious level which we are not aware of. There is an illusion that our conscious minds are in control; rationally reviewing “evidence” and then deciding upon something. Apparently we are not. Our “thinking” is merely rubber stamping what has happened long before we are consciously aware of the choice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some of this peculiar paradox has been known for a long time. In an ancient and now dead language called <em>Pali </em>(spoken in India more than two millennia ago), the word <em>Sankhara </em>literally means “that which puts together” and is in the specific context of mental “dispositions” and “volition formations”. There is evidence that folks from that time already understood that decisions are not being made at the conscious level. In fact, some ancient meditation techniques (like <em>Vipassana) </em>are specifically taught to allow the practioner to become “aware” of the areas of the unconscious mind, <em>where emotions, feelings and responses actually originate.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is not an easy concept to grasp. We work and live on the assumption of free will and deliberate choices. We intuitively function under the concept of <em>dualism</em>, where we take for granted that our minds and bodies are separate. Our mind decides, and our bodies respond. Some of this is now being put under stress by this new research. Before we reach conclusions, a lot more work will need to be done. But the preliminary research evidence upsets the intuitive logic of what we all take for granted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, what did the researchers actually find?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">First, a team led by John-Dylan Haynes, at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Berlin, Germany, conducted a series of experiments where participants inside an fMRI were asked to press a button with their right or left hand. The researchers scanned the brains of the participants to predict which button they would choose to press, and watched the brain areas sequentially trigger in that decision process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The results were startling. By watching the brain images of the participant, the researchers were able to ‘see’ and therefore predict the decision <em>6-7 seconds before the participant had made a conscious decision to press the button. </em>In other words, the conscious, active part of the brain where the person thought he/she was deciding which button to press, triggers <strong><em>after</em></strong> other brain areas had already made the choice of which button to press.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You can watch the video of this experiment with Prof. Marcus Du Sautoy (Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford) who went through the study as a participant:<br /><a data-mce-href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N6S9OidmNZM" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N6S9OidmNZM" style="color: #006699; outline: medium;" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N6S9OidmNZM</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Science Channel has done an entire episode on this issue with Morgan Freeman providing commentary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In March 2013, in a paper in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, C.S. Soon and others, (<a data-mce-href="http://www.pnas.org/content/110/15/6217" href="http://www.pnas.org/content/110/15/6217" style="color: #006699; outline: medium;" target="_blank">http://www.pnas.org/content/110/15/6217</a>), went even further. They demonstrated that the lead time for decisions is 4 seconds with a prediction accuracy of 60%, which is a highly significant difference from randomness. In other words, it cannot be coincidence. This experiment did not rely upon motor decisions (buttons being pressed), but added the element of an arithmetical operation. Apparently, the answers to your math problems are being manifest <em>before </em>your conscious mind figures it out. Ever found a solution out of thin air, and then wondered where it came from? It may have come less from air and more from your own unconscious mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The results of these lab experiments are highly problematic at a number of levels. They blur the line between terms like intuition, gut reaction, conscious choice, rational decision, free will etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For example, can you be held liable for an action which you did not consciously select? Taken to the extreme…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Sorry Officer, it wasn’t me that was driving fast. I didn’t decide that. Apparently, I don’t decide anything.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Miss, I didn’t finish my homework, because I had no choice!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Honey, I have been drinking beer and watching TV all day. Nothing I could do about it. Really.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before you start making these excuses for yourself, there is a lot more to learn about this uncanny nature of our decision making which we still have to completely unpeel. But this newest research reopens centuries of philosophical debate; am I really thinking and choosing, or automatically carrying out the dictate of a deeper brain recess that I do not control?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Decisions almost seem to be made at some subconscious level, and only then bubble up and are manifested to us in a conscious manner. Can we acquaint ourselves with this level where decisions are <em>actually </em>being made? And where is this place?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Who thinks? Who decides? Who does? Am I who I think I am?</span></div>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-28776816905229570372013-07-19T17:31:00.000-04:002013-08-21T17:31:27.133-04:00What Will the Next "Thing" Be Made From?<span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Remember how “Plastics Make It Possible”, the famous early
1990’s mega marketing campaign that illustrated how much our lives benefit from
plastics?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then again, don’t forget “Cotton
is the fabric of our lives”, and all the other slogans and campaigns in
between.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">But what about our lives tomorrow?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we still crave only natural materials swaddling
our bodies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will everything come
packaged in protective plastic (from food to brains to airplanes)? All to be
nicely recycled in the blue box on the curb?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Don’t bet on it. There is a revolution in new materials
underway. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">You know this is serious business when The President of the
United States singles out the development of new materials as critical to the
long term economic well-being of the nation. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Materials Genome Initiative (MGI)</i> launched a few years ago was an
attempt to fast track the development of these new materials. The National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that $ 25 million would
be spent on a new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Advanced Materials
Center of Excellence.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So what kind of new materials are we talking about? And how
might they change our world? Here are a few examples:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Graphene</i>
is 200 times stronger than steel, thinner than a sheet of paper and more
conductive than copper. In short, it is the thinnest and strongest material in
the world. The NYT reported that a sheet of Graphene stretched over a coffee
cup could support the weight of a truck! According to research by the
University of Bath, this material could accelerate internet speeds by a hundred
times. Bloomberg reports it could unlock super energy efficient devices,
revolutionize batteries, and create everything from bendable touchscreens to
super light-weight cars and even synthetic blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Did anybody else just get a chill reading
that - blood?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Researchers at MIT have identified materials
which could allow for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">un-wrinkling</i>
of what we wear. So, your pants could magically be able to reverse wrinkle. I
wonder what the ironing lobby is thinking of this new invention (I am sure they
have a lobby. Everyone does).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A new kind of wood composite has been patented
in China. Made from wood powder and recycled plastics, it has far better
strength and bending capacity than ordinary wood, and only a very small water
absorption rate improves durability. There is hope for deforestation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As recently as the mid-seventies, all passenger
jets were made of aluminum and steel. In 1974, Airbus changed things with a composite
rudder on its first plane. Today GE, the biggest jet engine maker, is building
vast factories to make new wave engines made from ceramics and a new material
made from titanium and aluminum which has been under development for over 20
years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you walk into some of the hotel lobbies
outfitted with the new<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> dynamic view
glass,</i> you might be able to notice that the glass darkens to block out the
sun and heat. This is more energy efficient and may even eliminate the need for
blinds. The glass is programmable and even has the ability to predict the sun’s
angle based on GPS positioning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
office fish bowl conference room can change to blackout mode in a flash.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And while we are on windows, The South Dakota
State University’s Center for Advanced Photovoltaics is working on a solution where
windows generate electricity to heat and cool the buildings <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in which they are installed.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asian
Scientist</i> reports that Chinese scientists at the Chinese Academy of
Sciences in Beijing have developed a method to print electronic circuits on
paper using liquid metal ink. A new wave of simple and low cost electronics,
and even 3D functional devices, is around the corner. The Internet of Things
(IeT) is likely to explode. If you are not familiar with IeT, here is a link: </span></span><a href="http://chopra-m.blogspot.com/2013/03/are-you-thing-yet-if-not-soon-you-will.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">http://chopra-m.blogspot.com/2013/03/are-you-thing-yet-if-not-soon-you-will.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCHuncaGjzC2Wck6Uogno7uI8QfQ9gYpA8T7PvkN1k1TMJ1fjktZf3dCuKhk5DukiOObY5QzJex5dz6_IvyXfEBpTzom5l3y-XPtmfSZnjDeZAjpy4CpFzCEtkTU2UAB3oIb2ve1u9-M/s1600/paper+circuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCHuncaGjzC2Wck6Uogno7uI8QfQ9gYpA8T7PvkN1k1TMJ1fjktZf3dCuKhk5DukiOObY5QzJex5dz6_IvyXfEBpTzom5l3y-XPtmfSZnjDeZAjpy4CpFzCEtkTU2UAB3oIb2ve1u9-M/s1600/paper+circuit.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The days of looking for charging cables for
phones and tablets may be coming to an end. DuPont Building Innovations and
Power Matters Alliance are working together to create a wireless charging
solution which is integrated into the work tops of solid surfaces. So, place
your phone on the counter, and its charging. DuPont believes wireless charging
of this kind will be part of furnishings and furniture as well. There may yet
be other uses for the La-Z-Boy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Researchers from University of London received
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Materials Science Venture Prize</i>
for a material which can be incorporated into toothpaste, dissolves in the
mouth, and releases calcium and phosphate that form the tooth minerals, thus
reducing the incidence of tooth decay.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> <span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Socks made of carbonized <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">coffee</i> offer unparalleled moisture wicking and can be printed on your
own 3D printer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But will my feet have
that caffeine edge?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLf57DJTl_vEA5mluYJrJBU40GFVRTYI59Nk1u-l33ab1JHEQp2UAmxHEPMJlRdzHkEsGj9qmmcjObtIx_l-eQOjSDqJOBSq1pli-h2g6a08iNEoTM3qc6TxbyYJAHbpPYOwPOFcybVqo/s1600/images%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLf57DJTl_vEA5mluYJrJBU40GFVRTYI59Nk1u-l33ab1JHEQp2UAmxHEPMJlRdzHkEsGj9qmmcjObtIx_l-eQOjSDqJOBSq1pli-h2g6a08iNEoTM3qc6TxbyYJAHbpPYOwPOFcybVqo/s1600/images%25284%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have
made a new kind of flexible sensor material which could be incorporated into
e-skin (electronic skin), cover prosthetics and allow patients to feel touch,
humidity, and temperature.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">University of Maryland researchers have developed
a battery with tin-coated wood which is a thousand times thinner than paper,
making it the longest lasting nano-battery available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology have developed a special material assembled from thin,
wrinkled nanotubes which will allow for real-time breath tests from smart phones
and tablets. They believe that such breath tests can also be leveraged for
testing for diabetes, lung cancer and other maladies by focusing on the
detection of biomarkers for these specific diseases.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A special kind of paper developed at the Georgia
Institute of Technology repels liquids, including water and oil. They used the
“lotus” effect from the lotus plant to create this new paper and believe that
this is a first step in a new generation of biomedical diagnostics and has the
potential to revolutionize packaging.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">North Dakota University researchers have
developed a new way to embed chips in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">smart</i>
paper, which may be highly effective against counterfeiting. But what about
hacking? Hacked your $100 bill lately?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new
generation of flexible materials will allow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Morphees,
</i>the name given to a new generation of self-actuated flexible devices, which
will change their form factor based on the specific application you launch. So,
your phone may bend as you type in a password and change to a stress ball when you
are having an anxious moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shape shifting
anyone? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Computerized fabrics that change color and even
shape are being developed at the Department of Design and Computation Arts at
Concordia University. The project is aptly called <em>Karma Chameleon </em>and Boy George gets another lease. The garments harness power from the human body and
then use that to change their visual properties. The day when you charge your phone with your shirt, may not be far behind.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most of our minds can’t begin to
wrap around all this wonderful work being done at these fine research
institutes, let alone fully envision the applications of such new materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We patiently await the next mass marketing campaign
to inform us what the next new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thing</i>
is, and which we absolutely cannot do without (preferably after significant
tests to ensure life and limb remain intact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wouldn’t want my e-skin short circuiting). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our current era continues to
expand on the uses for the 1959 creation of the microchip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s over 50 years of mileage from one new
material, albeit a pretty radical game changer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Imagine the possibilities with this new array of materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will they make possible?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-14353858718038089062013-07-03T15:36:00.003-04:002013-08-21T17:31:38.531-04:00Titles, acronyms and the morphing of technology roles<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: large;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDjzVM_sYmVbII4i1At6HklJFjDpoWdil-_RenFjzdLfxNS4m3r7py_WyFsjjNDG1aK9no_ShttEpGlxD2S8gURRQwTK0XUd-cQV1ldIRaN9Y2r3ltbiPGiH-O5BNJNu-i0Tdek0leo0/s550/image.axd_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDjzVM_sYmVbII4i1At6HklJFjDpoWdil-_RenFjzdLfxNS4m3r7py_WyFsjjNDG1aK9no_ShttEpGlxD2S8gURRQwTK0XUd-cQV1ldIRaN9Y2r3ltbiPGiH-O5BNJNu-i0Tdek0leo0/s320/image.axd_.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Like many of business’s
self-anointed indispensable experts, technologists thrive on acronyms. To
someone who doesn’t understand technology, this bizarre world of alphabets can
allow for jilting conversations in staccato.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I was under a DDoS”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">“Well, we have internal DNS and a WSUS”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">“Did you know that 365 doesn’t
allow static IP? It’s all DHCP.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">“I love VDI. It’s far better
than APP-V”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">“I use DFS instead of DPM. More
reliable.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">…and on and on. Frankly, it’s very
similar to Klingon. Strange dudes talking even stranger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Now, the same acronym mess has infiltrated
the titling of technologists. I recall the simpler time when we did not even
call it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">IT</i></b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Information
Technology), </i>rather it used to be called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MIS,</i></b> short for <em>Management Information Systems. </em>And you were Director MIS or Vice-President of MIS. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">But someone didn’t like that simple stuff. Acronyms, meet
titles. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Some, more old fashioned schemas still have <strong><em>VP IT </em></strong>, but they seem to be disappearing<strong><em>. </em></strong>Now we have <strong><em>CIOs and CTOs. </em></strong>People are completely confused about the difference between a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chief
Information Officer (CIO) </i></b>and a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chief Technology Officer (CTO).</i></b> What
do these folks actually do? Why do some organizations have both, while others
seem to select one or the other? Can a CIO become a CTO? Apparently some do. What changed for them? The answers can be hard to come by.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Recently, I met a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CTIO</i></b>
(Chief Technology Information Officer). I guess they wanted to make sure that
all the bases were covered. And then there is the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CMIO </i></b>(Chief Medical
Information Officer), and probably another dozen variations of all these alphabets
in a jambalaya of titles which no one seems to be able to understand fully.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">As a CIO, I was recently introduced
to a board member, who thought I was the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chief
Investment Officer</i> and started discussing risks in financial securities
with me. I don’t blame him; and I do need help with my portfolio. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6vlyjEyrTEoCzJwhuB3NXGqgHjyrWBZ5NqjDhyphenhyphenpqt9oKBcxvZJvzZn4cCkBf2I8rd_KpeW0D4Iz2kk2C-884iHj816w17lTmxE5g8nq0-XlO9dKlTtk9VbO3dlQbPjhsHKwzeqGJEjQ/s268/catchy+titles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6vlyjEyrTEoCzJwhuB3NXGqgHjyrWBZ5NqjDhyphenhyphenpqt9oKBcxvZJvzZn4cCkBf2I8rd_KpeW0D4Iz2kk2C-884iHj816w17lTmxE5g8nq0-XlO9dKlTtk9VbO3dlQbPjhsHKwzeqGJEjQ/s268/catchy+titles.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">And now a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CMO</i></b> (Chief Marketing Officer)
is morphing with a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CIO</i></b> (Chief Information Officer) to create another flavor of yet
another <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CMIO.</i></b> So now you could be a <strong><em>CMIO</em></strong> who is either a medical doctor
or a master salesman. Great, this should make it easier for all of us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Why this latest morphing? Because
the largest consumer of data within an organization is now increasingly the
marketing department. The potential of “Big Data”, with its reams of information, to which can now be applied advanced data mining analytics,
and which can then validate or identify new marketing strategies – is the new frontier. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">So,
if there was one constituency which now ‘gets’ technology, it is the marketing folks, and their budgets are increasingly being spent on technology. The focus on digital content, social media and even mobile applications, is steeped in both worlds - technology and marketing. When you ask CMOs what is the one area for improvement, they identify the use of technology as being close to the top of their lists. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">For the CIOs, IT is no longer just about reducing costs and increasing efficiencies. IT is now expected to enhance revenues in discreet and identifiable ways.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></span></span></span> </div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">The new paradigm seems to be tech savvy CMOs and customer focused CIOs. Merging marketing and technology is gaining momentum. “Marketing, do you take IT to be
your lawfully wedded…..” I see another Supreme Court ruling in the making.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Another round of new titles looks like it is around the corner. I think I am going to copyright <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CIMO,
</i></b>pronounced <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">See-mo</i> and short
for either <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chief Information Marketing
Officer </i>or <em>Chief International Magic Official </em>or<em> </em>even <em>Commander in Interdependent
Mobility Opportunities </em>(I might as well cover a couple more bases – right?) and while I am at it, maybe I will also do <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CIMOT, </i></b>pronounced <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">See-I-am-h-ot</i> (the ‘h’ is silent, of course) and
short for either <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chief International
Marketing Officer and Technologist </i>or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chief
In My Own Time.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Don’t get me wrong. I speak
Technology Klingon too. Acronyms? Bring ‘em on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Mukul Chopra CIO, CISSP, PMP,
MCSE, ITIL, CNE, CNA, MCP+I<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: large;">
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-22628096112549095202013-06-24T15:25:00.001-04:002013-08-21T17:31:50.504-04:00Some dead things, just don’t die<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuYSmgV9J8DEdHGT0vPGD08W03U9LZDjaB50vqx1AgpZozRIno9n7-GPeQMul7YCty6aAw1cTv712desw2shzCu8sI7ythpeGe0TDhVx2uC3V_cOSPqOAs553LIfhTkzeeW7dmwy6wlM/s1600/payphone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuYSmgV9J8DEdHGT0vPGD08W03U9LZDjaB50vqx1AgpZozRIno9n7-GPeQMul7YCty6aAw1cTv712desw2shzCu8sI7ythpeGe0TDhVx2uC3V_cOSPqOAs553LIfhTkzeeW7dmwy6wlM/s1600/payphone.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Recently, a frog species thought to be extinct, magically
appeared in an Israeli pond. These things seems to happen more often than you might
think.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 2000, the pygmy tarsier, a mouse-sized animal last
spotted alive in 1921, was rediscovered. In 1894, a handful of specimens of the
Nelson’s small-eared shrew were found in southern Mexico. That was the last
time the shrew was seen alive for 109 years; until 2009, when three were found
in a forest.</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Similarly, there are many ‘things’ from the world of
technology, which you might have thought are either extinct, or are on the
verge of disappearing, because you don’t see them around anymore. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">One of the oldest technologies we know, simply refuses to go
away. Fax machines were invented in 1843. More than 170 years later, in 2012,
an astonishing 700,000 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new</i> fax
machines were sold in the US. Still going, and going, and going……and not
looking to be gone anytime soon. Heck, I had to buy two for my office this
year. Can’t seem to get some people off it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Do you miss the clickty-clack of the dot-matrix printers? Do
you even remember them? Thought they had gone for good? Wrong again. More than
20,000 were also sold in 2012. I write this at an airport where I can actually
hear one in the distance because one of the most technologically advanced
industries, which buys planes for hundreds of millions of dollars, also insists
on still using dot-matrix printers at airport counters. Go figure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Thought that vinyl records were extinct? Wrong. In 2012, 4.6
million of them were sold in the US. Someone has turntables and is playing
records in the millions. DJs, you say? That many?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfF3Uhtl2Fvl5fF8zNrtwzlk22jCl7h8sYdWaB99Uc2VszINiHCmmxC3QTSvFvPKhDqBj2RVSH79e36DGQGOgTV3LKokwUOV4EctwSz2spEJX9HfJ9PcUByj7QZCM1LYxt3Zjz4g1fHPg/s1600/panasonic_ag188u_camera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfF3Uhtl2Fvl5fF8zNrtwzlk22jCl7h8sYdWaB99Uc2VszINiHCmmxC3QTSvFvPKhDqBj2RVSH79e36DGQGOgTV3LKokwUOV4EctwSz2spEJX9HfJ9PcUByj7QZCM1LYxt3Zjz4g1fHPg/s320/panasonic_ag188u_camera.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">In the high definition world of Blue-ray DVDs, some folks
are still watching their movies on VHS tapes. Not kidding. An astonishing 13
million blank VHS tapes were sold in the US in 2012. People are still recording
on VHS tapes? With what? VHS cameras? The ones which were so big and heavy to
lug around on your shoulder, and which then cost me hundreds of dollars in
chiropractor fees just to straighten me out? Someone out there still uses that
dinosaur?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Oh, and since we are on cameras, 35 million rolls of film
were sold in 2012. You read that right, millions! I thought Kodak was out of
that business and others were getting out of that business too. Apparently not
so fast. I cannot imagine that the film aficionados would be buying rolls of
film in such large quantities. So, who is? Time to fess up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMN-bIXjAEGfzqhfbzGKd9KQbIyij65zzKw_fXlYmJV3jIbh7bnYlVUrcZ4-tNv5SytdK6ChegjmizXyvdDarDfHOKvFCvVx13G5iP9QPa4Nyb_QQ6TaOk_wS9-sxjLKDAFeGDjwAzwkE/s1600/floppy8.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMN-bIXjAEGfzqhfbzGKd9KQbIyij65zzKw_fXlYmJV3jIbh7bnYlVUrcZ4-tNv5SytdK6ChegjmizXyvdDarDfHOKvFCvVx13G5iP9QPa4Nyb_QQ6TaOk_wS9-sxjLKDAFeGDjwAzwkE/s1600/floppy8.gif" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Sony stopped making 3 ½ inch floppies a while ago. Apparently,
there was no market for them. Wrong. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Verbatim,
still sells millions in Europe and UK. Miss the 5 ¼ inch variety? That one must
surely be gone, right? Not a chance. Floppydisk.com will sell you 50 for $ 40. They
are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">double sided </i>too (whatever that
means). If you feel very guilty, you can even buy recycled ones. Now all you
have to do is find a computer with a 5 ¼ inch floppy drive and you will be able
to access all 1.2 megabytes of data from your floppy! Why would you ever need anything
more (wasn’t that a quote from Bill Gates)? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">With the wildfire growth of smartphones, one would have
thought that some industries would be strongly affected. Remember pagers? Anyone
still use pagers? Well, $ 350,000 worth of Pagers were sold in 2012. I still see
some old fashioned doctors holding onto the pagers they first used in medical
school. But boy, that’s still a lot of pagers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Made a call at a pay phone lately? There are still 305,000 active
pay phones in the US? If you find a pay phone, take a picture. You may need it
to show your grandchildren. “Kids, to make a call, we had to hunt for something
called a ‘pay phone’. Then, we had to struggle to get coins out of our wallets,
because these special devices did not accept bank notes. And you could make a
call for a short period of time, before a voice started threatening to cut you
off if you didn’t put in more coins…..” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kicked a payphone for that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">And how about the GPS systems? With almost every smartphone
now able to provide GPS navigation, who is buying independent GPS systems?
Imagine having to buy one device for phone calls, another for texting, another
for navigation, another for the internet and so on. Then, you can hang all
these devices in your Home Depot handyman belt and go to work in a suit. People
still don’t know you can do all of this, and much more, from a single device? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">If you pay attention to the younger generation, there are a couple
more vestiges of another older time (all puns intended), which are under
assault. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Young folk don’t wear watches. </i>They
get their time from their smartphones. And just when you thought watches would
soon disappear, along comes a game changer: the much rumored <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">iWatch</i> from Apple. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will all the kids start wearing an iWatch? Will
that become the new fad, the same way that oversize ceramic watches are a craze
with the ladies now? Recently, I actually saw a young lady on the metro train, check her time on her
iPhone, while carrying this large ceramic “clock” on her wrist. Presumably the clock was just
for show. Or she didn’t know how to tell analog time. Or both?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Gone you say? Not so fast. Some dead things, just don’t die. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-70072638201669574152013-04-13T14:18:00.001-04:002013-08-21T17:29:49.556-04:00Can you MOOC?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57q8OryCJhPd1jc2az5j0qBGkoIiFsXUtemVnmqQsciPQ-9x6ZoV4BEI0SN-sVx-vBJkKWAQ-mJy4VFl9y4A7a0zX-yI4l1NoIJnNRboIzDjmscprpMoTGHsfsTt-8FiDAjn-HVh8GmU/s1600/MOOC-cow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57q8OryCJhPd1jc2az5j0qBGkoIiFsXUtemVnmqQsciPQ-9x6ZoV4BEI0SN-sVx-vBJkKWAQ-mJy4VFl9y4A7a0zX-yI4l1NoIJnNRboIzDjmscprpMoTGHsfsTt-8FiDAjn-HVh8GmU/s320/MOOC-cow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2012, The New York Times declared it ‘The Year of the MOOC’,
or Massive-Open-Online-Course. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">MOOCs are changing the way people learn, educators teach,
and who can participate in learning. When early internet evangelists called the
internet the “ultimate leveler”, this is probably what they may have meant. Soon,
it may not matter where you are, you will still have access to the same high
quality of education. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Initially, the concept evokes high hopes for educational
equality, together with some valid concerns for method, rigor, the value of
face-to-face learning and costing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
the moment, MOOCs are more common for college level courses, but they are
already encroaching into the high school niche. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">How are MOOCs different from traditional online courses? The
latter charge tuition, limit enrollment and ensure a higher level of interaction
with instructors. MOOCs are generally free and well, massive. Some estimates
have the median number of students enrolled in a MOOC at an astonishing 33,000!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Visualize Ohio State crammed into one
classroom all at the same time, learning the same thing and from the same instructor.</span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Who can attend a MOOC?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Almost anyone, and from anywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">You need an internet connection and a browser. New
compression algorithms have made even low bandwidth solutions adequate for an
online class. Thus, infrastructure matters less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Coursera, the largest MOOC Company, </span><a href="http://blog.coursera.org/post/29062736760/coursera-hits-1-million-students-across-196-countries" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">reported in August</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"> of 2012, that of its first million users,
62 percent were from outside the U.S., led by students in Brazil, India, China,
and Canada. Coursera’s largest MOOC forum in China has more than 12,000
members.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">At the RSA Security Conference in February 2013, Dan Boneh,
a Professor of Cryptography at Stanford, told an audience I was in, that the
largest contingent for his popular crypto online class, outside the US students,
was from Chile! Go figure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Theoretically, a single MOOC on a particular topic could
accommodate every student in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(That ignites some intriguing ideas about content, standardization,
validation, cultural influence, language…..but I will postpone those questions
for another time).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>How is K12 education being impacted?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">A new, </span><a href="http://dlt.mooc-ed.org/preview"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">free online project
</span></span></a><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">dubbed a "MOOC-Ed," or a massively open online course for
educators, is the work of the </span><a href="http://www.all4ed.org/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Alliance for Excellent Education</span></span></i></a><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">, a
Washington-based advocacy organization and the </span><a href="https://www.fi.ncsu.edu/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Friday
Institute for Educational Innovation</span></span></i></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">, at North Carolina State
University's College of Education. The 7-week class is specifically designed
for school and district leaders, including superintendents, principals,
curriculum directors, tech directors, finance officials, lead teachers, and
others responsible for planning the use of technology in K-12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They hope to plant the seed of MOOC
understanding to the current generation of primary and secondary educators.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">The fact is, worldwide there is a global teacher shortage in
K12. Almost 2 million new teaching positions need to be filled globally to
ensure access to a primary education by 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the US alone, we need almost 250,000 new STEM teachers
over the next decade. Now imagine how MOOCs might help fill that gap.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">How much does it cost to attend a MOOC?</span></strong> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">A week ago, President Bill Clinton speaking before his
Global Initiative, spoke of the way higher education is delivered in the US,
and the need for “dramatic change”, which could be driven by the accreditation
of massive open online courses. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">“A lot of people will have student debt that
goes beyond the federal student loan program. I think the only sustainable
answer is to find a less expensive delivery system,” President Clinton told <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Times Higher Education</i>. MOOCs may well be
the key to driving down costs, which as we all know have risen beyond inflation
for many years now. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><o:p><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Currently, MOOCs are free, and are serving as an experiment
of sorts. But commercial enterprises are showing a serious interest, and the
monetization of MOOCs will soon follow. MOOC providers want to keep courses
free to students, but "for these to work they're going to have to be
sustainable and bring some amount of money in," says Michael Horn, a
co-founder of Innosight Institute.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">The hope is that we would be able to benefit from the
economies of scale. Should a class for 100 students cost as much as the same
one for 15,000 or 100,000? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite unlikely.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Who are the big MOOC players?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a report in 2012, Moody's Investor Service called MOOCs a
"pivotal development" that has the potential to revolutionize higher
education. Investors are getting very interested.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">EdX, the $60 million collaboration between MIT and Harvard,
is a MOOC. Both universities have made a plethora of courses available to
anyone for free. EdX has said it plans to eventually charge a fee to students
who want to receive a certificate upon completion. Would you pay a few hundred dollars
for a certificate from Harvard or Stanford? Resumes may start looking very
different soon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact, Harvard is so interested in MOOCs, they are asking
alumni to donate their time and intellects in the rapidly expanding field of
online education. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stanford is one of Coursera's partners and Dr. Ng, one of
the principals at the company, is also Associate Professor of Computer Science
at Stanford. Coursera now offers courses from 33 of the biggest names in
postsecondary education, including Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai, Johns Hopkins, and Duke among others. Overseas universities
from Lausanne, Munich, Paris etc. are also participating. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Other popular MOOC platforms include Udacity, and the very popular
Khan Academy, the latter endorsed by none other than Bill Gates himself. In
September, 2012, Google launched a MOOC-building online tool. More MOOCs are on
the way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">David Stavens, formed </span><a href="http://www.udacity.com/" title="The Web site,"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Udacity</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"> with Sebastian Thrun and Michael
Sokolsky after <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more than 150,000 signed up</i></b> for Dr. Thrun’s “Introduction to
Artificial Intelligence” leaving the entire higher education community astonished
and immediately taking notice of this staggering number.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Do we learn differently with MOOCs?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">We most
certainly do. But this is also an opportunity to increase learning about how
people learn. Studies might help provide new insight into when students get fed
up with lectures, how men and women react differently, and how online forums
can stimulate better performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">At Stanford,
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Learning Analytics Group </i>comprises
graduate students, researchers, professors and others from the fields of
education, computer science, communication and sociology. They collect data on
when students complete assignments, take exams, watch videos, participate in
forums or do peer assessment. The hope is that this data will assist in
assessing progress, predict performance, and identify problems to improve the
MOOC experience with better outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>How is this impacting brick and mortar classrooms?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">The University of El Salvador, is the only public university
in that country. It spends $60 million a year to teach 50,000 students, and its
budget is so limited that it can only accept about one-third of applicants. Can
a MOOC help here? You bet. The arrival of MOOCs is adding to an already “huge
pressure” to expand university access by bypassing the brick buildings
altogether. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">While MOOCs could be an opportunity to improve education in
poor regions, they are also profoundly threatening to bad professors and to
weak institutions in any region. Would you go to a poor class in your
neighborhood or one from Harvard, MIT or Stanford online? And it doesn’t matter
if that bad class is in North America or Bolivia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Are MOOCs easier for students?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">MOOCs may have previously provided general classes intended
to serve as primers on a subject. Attempts are now being made to make MOOCs
just as rigorous as those in a traditional classroom environment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gautam Kaul, a professor at the University of Michigan’s
Ross School of Business, will soon teach the latest iteration of his “Introduction
to Finance” class, but this isn’t your standard MOOC. Kaul went a different
route for the course he created. He offered up a class that he says is just as
intensive as what a Ross MBA student would sit through. He is answering the
question, “Is this high quality?” In this case, it is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Will MOOCs be taken seriously?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some people think so.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Agarwal, who leads the EdX project, predicts that “a
year from now, campuses will give credit for people with EdX certificates.” He
expects students will one day arrive on campus with MOOC credits the way they
do now with Advanced Placement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
will employers give them credence?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 2pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri Light;"><span style="color: purple;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Downsides of MOOCs?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are plenty of skeptics and they have some legitimate
concerns. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Language skills can certainly present a barrier. Dropout
rates are very high. In many ways, students are testing the waters just like
the educators.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Andrew Delbanco, a professor of American studies at Columbia
University, in an article in the New Republic titled “MOOCs of Hazard” talks
about the loss of face-to-face teaching. MOOCs are unlikely to be able to meet
the high thresholds and benefits of a university campus class. Feedback and
interaction with the instructor remains a challenge. How do you make the
massive feel intimate? Details to be worked out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><o:p><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Can learning be scaled up this much? That is another question. Is there
a limit to how many should participate in a MOOC? Grading is still a problem. Cheating
is an unpleasant reality. “We found groups of 20 people in a course submitting
identical homework,” says David Patterson, a professor at the University of
California, Berkeley, who teaches software engineering. Udacity and EdX are now
going to offer proctored exams. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br clear="all" /><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">2012 may not have been the Year
of the MOOC for rank and file educators, but it is commanding the attention of
a large swath of beneficiaries participating in these experiments, and of the
thought leaders in education who are attempting to conceptualize and shape this
new realm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MOOCs present an interesting
adjunct to the traditional brick and mortar experience, particularly for those
who previously lacked access due to geography or wealth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I applaud all the subject matter experts who
post such information for free. It still takes work. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></b></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">They are educating all of humanity
one MOOC at a time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</script><br />Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-26194063759162521052013-04-06T17:13:00.000-04:002014-03-01T18:00:40.465-05:00Outsourcing Critical Thinking to Google.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgNthyBJ9mx9IXCfFHyhOF3XHp6YW-TZDmyeGUhGiPeJzFFtx-v1Co5UrMJLsH8Lzh0UEXdV6MZGz8N0GdywZQFgproW8QPXQa4jQCpLU49fffZcBOfgKjvWHRtfUHvE2Xintbgw6JHc/s1600/th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgNthyBJ9mx9IXCfFHyhOF3XHp6YW-TZDmyeGUhGiPeJzFFtx-v1Co5UrMJLsH8Lzh0UEXdV6MZGz8N0GdywZQFgproW8QPXQa4jQCpLU49fffZcBOfgKjvWHRtfUHvE2Xintbgw6JHc/s1600/th.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my favorite questions to a young prospective job applicant goes like this</span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><i>Imagine you are on a deserted island
with no phone or other internet enabled device. You have never been to NYC.
Now, if I asked you how many Thai restaurants are in NYC? How would you try and find
that out? What considerations might be important to answer this question?</i></b></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Responses have varied,
but here are some which are fairly common for the Millennial
Generation:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"So, like, can I call someone
who has a computer?" </span></span></span><i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, remember you don't have a phone.</i><br />
<i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Hmm... can I walk to
an internet cafe?" </span></span></span><i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are no cafes here.</i><br />
<i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>"</i>My friend lived
in NYC. I could ask her". </span></span></span><i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is no post office or phone booth here to call
or mail from.</i><br />
<i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span>...and so it goes. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most never reach the
point at which they actually begin to solve the problem. <strong>They are too busy
trying to find out how they can get to someone who might get them to
Google!</strong></span></span></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Critical thinking needs
imagination, insight, and even thinking outside the box. What is far more common
nowadays, is thinking "in the box" - which in this case, is the "box" in your
pocket (your smartphone) or even in your hand (tablet). </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;">The next
time you ask a </span><span style="color: #741b47;">Millennial a question, notice
how quickly they reach for their phones. The phone is an extension of their
mind. Not tomorrow. Today. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;">If Google
can answer it - why should I know?</span><i style="color: #741b47;"> <strong>I don't
need to know, because Google knows!</strong></i><span style="color: #741b47;"> That space
in the head, and the critical skills which working a problem bring to the fore - may be under some threat. This should concern us. There are some really smart folks in Silicon Valley from this same generation who are inventing remarkable technology, and in turn are making this world a more connected and hence a more informed place - a better place. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;">But there seems to be a large segment of that same generation which is just as comfortable outsourcing critical thinking to the smart devices which they own. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Another manifestation of the same technology is a seeming lack of focus. <b>Time is now being lived in very small segments as we multitask through a plethora of competing distractions.</b> This is turn makes sustained focus on one issue much more difficult and is bordering on a lost art. We live in a time where everything important needs to be said in 140 characters or less, and then we move on. Some studies have shown that it can take us between 4-8 minutes before we can refocus after a distraction.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;">More analysis and studies of these phenomenon will need to be done before any long term trends can be identified with any precision. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Was a previous generation just as alarmed when calculators first became ubiquitous?</span> Did they worry that math would become a lost art?</span></span><script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Time will tell...</span></span>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-89618981433459238862013-04-02T14:35:00.003-04:002013-08-21T17:32:23.236-04:00Can your “attention”, change you? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOn_aPvmG4Tu7p5qfJTxEWUdc_78Bpm64Dk8sMxsFdn1rCF00-4mk5806IxCKFv7CET0c5-ICP3w78HexLjFCgA2Bw0aJ13dwTW6QcgB9zabZ0Jvq52iWactjthdJCZ9xrndUHViGAqE/s1600/doubsle+slit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOn_aPvmG4Tu7p5qfJTxEWUdc_78Bpm64Dk8sMxsFdn1rCF00-4mk5806IxCKFv7CET0c5-ICP3w78HexLjFCgA2Bw0aJ13dwTW6QcgB9zabZ0Jvq52iWactjthdJCZ9xrndUHViGAqE/s320/doubsle+slit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About a hundred years ago, scientists discovered a very
unique characteristic of the smallest objects. At the quantum level, particles behaved
differently when you “looked” at them. More precisely, these tiniest of particles,
changed from a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wave</i> to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a point,</i> simply by being observed. When
not being observed, they could exhibit wave like form. But the moment you
turned your “attention” to them – they changed. They became pin points. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you want to see a great rendition of this mysterious phenomenon, watch
Dr. Quantum explain it with the help of the now famous double-slit experiment.
</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A hundred years after this discovery, we are still not sure
why this is? We can replicate the experiment at will. Physicists have tried to “fool”
the particles into somehow not “knowing” that they are being watched. Some of
these experiments have been rather complicated and very clever. And yet, alas, the
result has always been the same. You simply cannot fool these tiny particles. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Look at them, and they will change. Every
time!<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About 2600 years ago, another scientist performed a very similar
experiment. He did not have the labs available to his modern day counterparts.
He did not even have microscopes. But he had, what in many ways, may be the
ultimate laboratory – his own body. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He discovered, that if you moved your attention over your own body, and did this in a deliberate and careful scan,
the nature of the tiniest particles of the body, would change (just like the
double-slit experiment). Focus long enough, with enough practice, attention and
discipline; and magic could happen. You might even become enlightened.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This ancient scientist, named this process <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipassana</i></b>
or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">insight</i>. His name was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Siddhartha
Gautama</i></b>. He lived in the India of old. Many of us know him today by his
simple honorific – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Buddha.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipassana</i>
meditation is the underpinning of Buddhist meditation<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></b>and is a pillar of the
oldest lineage of Buddhism – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Theravada.</i>
It is the lineage taught by The Buddha himself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJjuXCu3nUm8ZFLcjV8GRr10w9j_j9pcEys4fI7Gei1VuOR0qf6j7tOVVct-_J7672ujdXIsGCFpTJu9bG8469_8SgjL2QdiunlU6hLxczR8e8kfyKPKVQitGntjf64zl3lS9TDb06k4/s1600/Vipassana_Meditation2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJjuXCu3nUm8ZFLcjV8GRr10w9j_j9pcEys4fI7Gei1VuOR0qf6j7tOVVct-_J7672ujdXIsGCFpTJu9bG8469_8SgjL2QdiunlU6hLxczR8e8kfyKPKVQitGntjf64zl3lS9TDb06k4/s320/Vipassana_Meditation2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipassana</i>?
Well, ‘insight’ can be a complicated thing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, in its simplest form, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipassana</i> meditation requires the practitioner to use a
concentrated, focused and quiet mind, as the only tool, to scan each area of
one’s own body with pure attention. You observe. And when you “feel” something on
the observed part of the body - you move to the next part of the body. You might feel an
itch, a breeze, a tingle, pressure, heat, cold – it could be anything. You simply
observe it in a non-judgmental manner, and once observed, you move on to the
next spot on your body. That simple.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And you scan your body again and again, over days, even
months, or even years. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The simple act of observation, changes the
nature of our very being, particle by particle.</i></b> And nothing more than
observation is required to begin this process. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, we can see how experiments in the lab are
overwhelmingly conclusive and provide resounding evidence that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">attention changes the nature of things.
Literally! </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turn your attention to
yourself, and you too will change. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Evidence also suggests, you will likely change for the
better. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipassana meditation </i>(and
other forms of meditation) are known to make the practitioners more
compassionate, more joyful, peaceful and balanced, and increasingly happier. Matthieu Richard,
a biologist who worked at the Pasteur Institute before becoming a monk in 1968,
and who is now dubbed “the happiest person on earth” has been a meditator for over five decades. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthieu_Ricard"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthieu_Ricard</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">).</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cphtAupeLmCbiDUIEIjlHKK1d-_urv6Id7KR-K7MmVk50XkZMmwF1os3bGfH1G-zG43X1kEo6VBYadDqflrT097YO892dDE1cXbSNxW71nWBMfUIB1FYRV1AUR72rNDXcgZotvnu748/s1600/220px-Mat_in_Tibet-D4784s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cphtAupeLmCbiDUIEIjlHKK1d-_urv6Id7KR-K7MmVk50XkZMmwF1os3bGfH1G-zG43X1kEo6VBYadDqflrT097YO892dDE1cXbSNxW71nWBMfUIB1FYRV1AUR72rNDXcgZotvnu748/s1600/220px-Mat_in_Tibet-D4784s.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Attention, is a very powerful thing. ‘Watch’ where you look.
You are changing your environment with your attention. You may even be changing yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-54011164481623539972013-03-19T17:50:00.000-04:002014-01-14T09:40:20.312-05:00Are you a ‘thing’ yet? If not, soon, you will be.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OHTELwanB0MmcgduWQPTDLpTYbUfeY3KgTYNdZkr42L879i2Gzt8vYDh-XMxwPQ4Od_7IwxAdY5qFwR36x2EBR4QBnVad6YBE5BOnJdy3LGAz2ZFEa2GHGL2qfTGAZ2zqinl4a6koHc/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OHTELwanB0MmcgduWQPTDLpTYbUfeY3KgTYNdZkr42L879i2Gzt8vYDh-XMxwPQ4Od_7IwxAdY5qFwR36x2EBR4QBnVad6YBE5BOnJdy3LGAz2ZFEa2GHGL2qfTGAZ2zqinl4a6koHc/s320/cover.jpg" height="296" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the popular show “Homeland”
on cable TV, the Vice-President is assassinated by wirelessly jamming an
internet enabled device, his pacemaker. On that day, The Internet of Things
(IoT), became part of popular culture. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The term ‘Internet of Things”
was first coined by the co-founder and Executive Director of MIT’s Auto-ID lab,
Kevin Ashton in the mid-1990s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, the date which
historians are more likely to focus on will be - Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. On
that perhaps obscure date in history (until now that is), more<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> things than people</i>, connected to the
internet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today, there are roughly two
Internet-connected devices for every man, woman and child on the planet. But as
the excellent chart from Cisco (see below) shows you, the forecast is for 50
billion <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">things</i> to connect to the
internet by 2020. That is an astounding 6.58 for every person on earth. This
projected average is global; the per-person number will be much higher in
developed countries.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<br /></div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCsrVOFh4G9deCrI7kI4E0pdpS0PlmjXWISQX_x7WZnHHMuUQAH3bf8Hnu-I2tnt_8OYBzttDDZElgbnj6YtsCl6zrTyOgw5jRv67Ihnc_9tDLFYIO3Szcc5rBTaBaBurt0fCwIKQ6Ls/s1600/cisco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCsrVOFh4G9deCrI7kI4E0pdpS0PlmjXWISQX_x7WZnHHMuUQAH3bf8Hnu-I2tnt_8OYBzttDDZElgbnj6YtsCl6zrTyOgw5jRv67Ihnc_9tDLFYIO3Szcc5rBTaBaBurt0fCwIKQ6Ls/s640/cisco.jpg" height="443" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Thus
far, we have connected to the internet using PCs, laptops, tablets and
smartphones. But that is all changing. Since that August day in 2010, the
“things” are growing, and this delta will only increase. You can see that there
is a major change underway. The age of connected devices is now upon us;
billions of them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This
new paradigm is already creating a new breed of technology companies, who are
producing new products, which in turn will translate into enormous new
revenues. Cisco estimates that the IoT will yield $ 14.4 trillion in value by
2022. If correct, that is a gigantic number and almost as big as the entire
output of the US in one year (approx. $ 15 Trillion). Compare that number to
current ecommerce sales in 2012, which topped $1 trillion for the first time. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">99%
of electronic devices on the market today, are not connected to the internet.
And yet, we believe that in the near future, most of them will. They will have
an IP (internet protocol) address, much like your PC has now, and using
wireless connections, they will connect to the internet and in turn with M2M
(Machine to machine) and to the people and enterprises who own these devices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">As
Michael Fuschette noted, IoT is an example of how three of the current hot
trends (big data, mobile, and cloud) come together to provide a great deal of
value personally and for businesses. We make them smarter by connecting them to
the web.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So,
what kind of devices are we talking about? </span></div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let’s start with some of
the obvious ones:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cars</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: are already participating in
IoT. For example, take the S-class Mercedes. It has nearly as many embedded
computers as an Airbus A380.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Transportation</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: Various cities have already
setup their transport networks with sensors. These broadcast the position of
buses, trams, metro trains, cars etc. and then make this data available to the
public. Mobile Applications are leveraging this information for find shorter
routes for commuters. Smart traffic grids are emerging. In the future, with M2M
connections, cars will seamlessly communicate with each other and the network
will only grow, creating more data, better data, and better commutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Wait, why will we have to commute to work?
Ah, that’s for another day)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thermostats</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: Another example is the ‘</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.nest.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Nest’ thermostat</span></a><span style="color: #c00000;"> (and there are many others), which is an internet connected
thermostat that allows you to remotely manage your thermostat from your
smartphone, tablet or PC; and <i>learns</i> your preferences as you use it. (Update: NEST was acquired by Google for $ 3.2 billion on 1-13-14)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__nm3wYaX_RV3ihQ4zPRC_363b_fvRkfW8kaI3scrWjOia0RzvE0t2XP975A9oIHIQCgqCprnyAE39ADn_vFgvb8lcjPfjixmvt0G7sTN_A4Cw8_rlEpTD_0iFTlvvan9Kk6T3xAjQp8/s1600/nest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__nm3wYaX_RV3ihQ4zPRC_363b_fvRkfW8kaI3scrWjOia0RzvE0t2XP975A9oIHIQCgqCprnyAE39ADn_vFgvb8lcjPfjixmvt0G7sTN_A4Cw8_rlEpTD_0iFTlvvan9Kk6T3xAjQp8/s320/nest.jpg" height="282" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lights
and even “Rumba”</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These can also be connected to the internet
and even self-order replacement parts when they start failing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sporting
equipment</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: another example of IoT
is the widespread adoption of sensor technology to monitor sporting performance
e.g. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Nike. </span><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Fitbit</span><span style="color: #c00000;"> sensors (see below) collect data about workouts, sleep
cycles etc. and send it to a central server which users and healthcare
providers, can then access to analyze that data.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZbw7wiGHq3vL5igq6hiZ3W-6aY2LniuUIerwhjBwkcY052YWgayLMCrfVIX-QnpOfy2fx1m2pfsCB0ncV4bdToTUy2HgX06eYS6UEbtMVah-dRiijVM3zHt0oMYDOKeLgjBJqolgHaI/s1600/fitbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZbw7wiGHq3vL5igq6hiZ3W-6aY2LniuUIerwhjBwkcY052YWgayLMCrfVIX-QnpOfy2fx1m2pfsCB0ncV4bdToTUy2HgX06eYS6UEbtMVah-dRiijVM3zHt0oMYDOKeLgjBJqolgHaI/s320/fitbit.png" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here are some examples
which might be a little further out, but are already in development by
bona-fide companies:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Refrigerators</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: </span></span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the not too distant future we can expect to see refrigerators
which can place grocery orders with stores and do so automatically when you're running low on staples like
milk and eggs. They will do so using the bar codes on the items, and the weight of the containers. We
can see how the next step may even be to display and recommend a list of
recipes, for which all the ingredients are already in the refrigerator. Or,
recipes which might meet the medical and nutritional needs required to treat a
specific kind of disease.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Closets:
</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Given my personal
challenges with fashion and coordination, I cannot wait for this one. Imagine,
the closet recommending an “outfit” which is fashion aware, cross checked
against the weather monitor for the kind of temperatures you might expect to
find outside that day<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6098921904269031647#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>.
Your closet might even highlight the clothes, which have not been worn in a
while, and are therefore ready for donation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; page-break-after: avoid; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Carbon
Footprint:</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> what if your
dishwasher, or heater could keep track of the utilization of energy and advise
you on how to reduce your carbon footprint?</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-Zd8BZRDM3wud968liBGwj5UiI2vIP2NzXn3JDE03InksUR9VgLw4dhcjVaS3_9yQ9L0uZmFVtYgSo6Kv-RVMMK_EdVJaPSej1_7JNJ4QLd6wqczvsAIiKKW8_RcigAqbewN_885lLI/s1600/dishwasher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-Zd8BZRDM3wud968liBGwj5UiI2vIP2NzXn3JDE03InksUR9VgLw4dhcjVaS3_9yQ9L0uZmFVtYgSo6Kv-RVMMK_EdVJaPSej1_7JNJ4QLd6wqczvsAIiKKW8_RcigAqbewN_885lLI/s320/dishwasher.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Medicine</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: The end game in healthcare is
personalized medicine facilitated by genomic research, which will allow
us to create customized medications for individual patients adn their illnesses. Pills and
Pill-probes which are internet enabled, could wirelessly send information to
your doctor. Your WC as a medical lab? Sure, why not?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cows:
</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yes, even cows. The
University of Strathclyde has begun a $2.2 million project to equip cows with a
"smart collar" that will allow their owners to keep tabs on them via
cell phone. The collar uses the same 3D sensor found in </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.cnet.com/nintendo-wii.html"><span style="color: #c00000; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Wii</span></a><span style="color: #c00000;"> video game controllers to detect shifts in the
cow's head position. The data is then sent wirelessly over the cell phone
network. They hope to be able to tell when a cow is not
well, and yes, when it is ‘in the mood”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Little Bo Peep would be so impressed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Payments:
</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On 3/17/13, 60 Minutes
broadcast an interview with Jack Dorsey, the man behind Twitter and the payment
system used with smartphones called Square. Jack demonstrated a new payment system at
a coffee shop. Using NFC (near field communication), his smartphone alerted the
smart cash register that he had come into the shop. His picture appeared on the
console for the employee to identify him, and his regular drink appeared on the
screen. His payment information was in the system as well. The entire
transaction could have taken place without a word being exchanged, or Jack
having to produce cash or a credit card. He never had to break his conversation with the person he had walked in with.</span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">n<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People:
</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And yes, even people
will be nodes on the internet. I know. Sounds awful. Tattoos, which are stenciled onto the skin, can now
be used to keep track of various things including for example, vital signs for
a medical practitioner to keep tabs on for a post-operative patient.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje932v91ezVhwi1K4wEtBN4YBKBUuHAvFBAHMyQmQOYB6xVLy3TN4W_L7nno7SWgqy1kM1eZgpuXC2bikz3mSEC3WSgJCeNvqE-9LaFS-hgZJteT0SL-6lSaCgDGiiuh1DC5hvBR3YUo/s1600/stencil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje932v91ezVhwi1K4wEtBN4YBKBUuHAvFBAHMyQmQOYB6xVLy3TN4W_L7nno7SWgqy1kM1eZgpuXC2bikz3mSEC3WSgJCeNvqE-9LaFS-hgZJteT0SL-6lSaCgDGiiuh1DC5hvBR3YUo/s400/stencil.jpg" height="296" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But there are some concerns too.
At the recently concluded RSA Security Conference in San Francisco, Lookout CTO
Kevin Mahaffey said, “The Internet of Things opens new doors for attackers
trying to get into your company’s systems”. Mahaffey set out to attack all the
devices he could find in his office including his thermostat, printer, VoIP
phone and other devices connected to the internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
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</div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“These are the things that
hackers lust after,” said Mahaffey during the presentation. “A lot of these
devices have a pretty big attack surface.” This then is a new threat vector and
one not necessarily on the minds of the companies who are manufacturing such
devices.</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For
example, your Internet-connected coffee maker likely doesn’t need to talk to
your enterprise server. (Then again, you may have a problem with your server
and you may not have had enough coffee. In which case, that is probably a
legitimate connection. Is it?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How
will these new realms impact IT planning? Where will the intersections need
minding? Remember, IOT is BYOD (bring your own device) on steroids.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A Forrester report (see chart
below) shows that over 50% of CIOS are already planning on having these devices
in their environment within 24 months. Watch out!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ocLrrGGZuyTut2_bEa6uzqr6MwL7lPbVpYrOhlSmqY7vc6DRycTcBrqpPwEj_Ewz4L_31oMD5X_Qd4IrWGU2ggmBhnz3xJf3VlJun0Jn5tzDwzJAlNWeG8yx-Stt84QMWUXVh6B4t_A/s1600/graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ocLrrGGZuyTut2_bEa6uzqr6MwL7lPbVpYrOhlSmqY7vc6DRycTcBrqpPwEj_Ewz4L_31oMD5X_Qd4IrWGU2ggmBhnz3xJf3VlJun0Jn5tzDwzJAlNWeG8yx-Stt84QMWUXVh6B4t_A/s640/graph.jpg" height="475" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gartner analyst Steve Prentice
said in October 2012, that he expects the “Internet of Things” will evolve into
the “Internet of Everything” by 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you are not ready for IoT –
will you be ready for IoE?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-27649249438791310282013-03-04T12:06:00.002-05:002013-08-21T17:33:05.769-04:00Ready, Set...3D print!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGd5bCUGjsRYswKYhEN8cRZQIkN1LbPFBJ3UgJ85hqMsrPZDeeTO6tSKd5cNEwchcD7SIJ2bmoOOMltt1F38zA81EEJM2KKRUmQy5KCLSTkjXSaqUFSHBWkx5G_nkojlWi8E8fUIOJTh0/s1600/printer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGd5bCUGjsRYswKYhEN8cRZQIkN1LbPFBJ3UgJ85hqMsrPZDeeTO6tSKd5cNEwchcD7SIJ2bmoOOMltt1F38zA81EEJM2KKRUmQy5KCLSTkjXSaqUFSHBWkx5G_nkojlWi8E8fUIOJTh0/s1600/printer.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My first exposure to <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">3D printing was in late 2011. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dentist had been advising me to get a crown
and I couldn’t put it off any longer. I knew the routine, having endured a crown
before. At the first visit the dentist would take a mold of my tooth; ship it
off to a crown making shop; and 2 weeks later, I would be back in the chair for
the fitting. Pure joy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">I settled into the dentist's chair and away we
went, but I soon realized something had changed. No one was getting a mold of
my tooth. Instead Dr. Kim pulled up a computer on a mobile station and started
fashioning a crown on the screen. "What's that Doc?” I asked. “Now, we build
our crowns right here,” he told me, and then proceeded to move the monitor up
so that I could see him design and build my crown on the screen right in front
of me. Half an hour later, the crown had been "printed,” a few more minutes to
install, and I was on my way. I now have a 3D-printed tooth in my mouth, and so do
millions of others.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You know 3D printing is serious when the President mentions
it in the State of the Union address. He lauded the White House's efforts last
year to create a 3D printing lab in Youngstown, Ohio. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What many of us may not know is how long <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">3D printing </span>has been around.
Consider this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Carl Deckard and Joe Beamen invented the
pre-cursor to today’s 3D printing at the University of Texas back in 1986, just
about five years into the PC era.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">3D
printing has</span> been a relatively common occurrence in most manufacturing
shops for some time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>There are more than thirty-two 3D printed parts
in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (No, not the battery).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>The Mars Rover Curiosity has several parts made
by <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">3D printers at NASA.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>The chances are very high that parts of your
car, like your dashboard, were prototyped on a 3D printer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Microsoft managed to release several new
hardware devices, like the Surface, by using 3D printing, helping to keep it
all tightly under wraps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>In 2011, $ 1.7 billion of goods fabricated on 3D
printers were sold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Heck, even Stephen Colbert has had a replica of
himself made on a 3D printer. In the world of the millennials – this alone, has
made this type of printing a serious consideration. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let’s answer the most obvious question: Is a 3D printer like
a regular printer you have at home?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not exactly. Your home printer uses two dimensions. <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;">3D printing involves layering materials
into three dimensions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The designs comes
from your computer. At its more basic level, 3D printers are more akin to a
manufacturing process. There are a plethora of materials which can be used for
such printing, but generally some kind of plastics is being used at this point.
Design becomes essential, and not many users are able to use complex design tools. So
for now, these are being made by the 3D design experts and they are
available for download from the Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The process, layering, creates an unusual opportunity. Most
of what humans build is by removing materials to create something – Da Vinci
chiseled from a chunk of marble. Or, by constructing the framework, the
scaffolding, and adding in all the smaller parts in the most efficient manner
to sustain the structure. That has changed with this kind of printing. Now you
can layer the faucet right into the sink; the scissor hinge into the scissors;
and build a shoe starting with the heel all in one piece (see below). The kind
of designs which are now possible to make, creates a brand new landscape for
new ways of building things, incrementally, one layer at a time, in any order
you choose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsnx8Ihpui1krNMwTIgXelRl1RsldyXc9e5KPHT5KW-G-mDZYSuni6IeZlu6JAkp40NLjV8QC_dmFGm-IeAkaHG25uJ4_jXL13763CsUz-Hju92DF17X-kwPY8G9I1GoW0IvkgQYMeFQ/s1600/shoe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsnx8Ihpui1krNMwTIgXelRl1RsldyXc9e5KPHT5KW-G-mDZYSuni6IeZlu6JAkp40NLjV8QC_dmFGm-IeAkaHG25uJ4_jXL13763CsUz-Hju92DF17X-kwPY8G9I1GoW0IvkgQYMeFQ/s320/shoe.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Companies like 3D Systems and MakerBot are making these printers. The latter has printers
with names like "cupcakes". <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
love it. These devices are the size of a microwave oven; and can print a 3D
object the size of a large legal book. As more are sold, costs will come down rapidly. Multi-material printers will
become commonplace. and even designing will get easier. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So what can we expect?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We can expect to see manufacturing become the domain of more
people. One-of-a-kind manufacturing will cost no more than large scale
manufacturing (the at-home Da Vinci?). There is no additional cost in using a
different design, swapping daily, or even hourly. Small scale manufacturing shops will soar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">New products and even replacement parts will be made at home.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Medical devices like hearing aids,
artificial limbs, teeth, and yes, even artificial organs are already
outputs of 3D printers. Stem cells have been used to create a part of a human
ear (see below). Even food can be “printed”.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-eQHtxZfMneX_h_k6SxoIOw9_jiF7sbWgO_7yamHc8t1ked9eQcMDzQSQbngbGjFjGMPmJUgldRO-WyQrjZPGNQvivcSOZkLqKL5InxIASH8wxcbjnhGVhVm_PlWxYlPBQVLdd4pVV8/s1600/ear.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-eQHtxZfMneX_h_k6SxoIOw9_jiF7sbWgO_7yamHc8t1ked9eQcMDzQSQbngbGjFjGMPmJUgldRO-WyQrjZPGNQvivcSOZkLqKL5InxIASH8wxcbjnhGVhVm_PlWxYlPBQVLdd4pVV8/s1600/ear.png" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqglQEhG4_-UbQmJnrsuwKymZM86AbCOf4iLTntJjt_ZY-YQ1mplaO9VVkSMXxR5ZBxaYeyzIm2LC3FuZPks72sVp3Wm1VReJUMm4GiCT2_jx9A4F8UxZqD1mdPRHpzxKFyZwKmRqYog/s1600/limb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqglQEhG4_-UbQmJnrsuwKymZM86AbCOf4iLTntJjt_ZY-YQ1mplaO9VVkSMXxR5ZBxaYeyzIm2LC3FuZPks72sVp3Wm1VReJUMm4GiCT2_jx9A4F8UxZqD1mdPRHpzxKFyZwKmRqYog/s320/limb.png" width="222" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Imagine printing toys at Christmas for the kids, like the
car below. Your child was just invited to a birthday party, and you don’t have
a gift handy. No problem. Print out a toy! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFsRxD-pmG3LAbzhIbq4jqL2y_rwQ6Sym8fACozepjUfHjJMD1-p_Nw619Od8kt9R55IcLaOIN1M8hcuqq72uTEh4va2Vhyphenhyphene5i0rlMACylu-cm0dhO0_1ZJ3QeOiU0Ccmib15NNCuY70/s1600/toy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFsRxD-pmG3LAbzhIbq4jqL2y_rwQ6Sym8fACozepjUfHjJMD1-p_Nw619Od8kt9R55IcLaOIN1M8hcuqq72uTEh4va2Vhyphenhyphene5i0rlMACylu-cm0dhO0_1ZJ3QeOiU0Ccmib15NNCuY70/s1600/toy.png" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or think of an array of larger 3D printers at your neighborhood
library or Staples, where you can print a new dashboard for your car in a
different color. Print your own guitar (like the one shown below), a new lamp, even
furniture and now a drivable car like the one shown below.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwt3xUuBrcSTUCrDbcXP-Zclbtw3ld3AE5eETnoyukMzgrwbmaj7xjNiwt_IypvUoV0Rwd2xAGo82ms8tW7TeaCc2edno-oUGAWbySUMoxQJxbm7kTvRa6_a7NPacYpLf0VUMBU06hzFc/s1600/guitar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwt3xUuBrcSTUCrDbcXP-Zclbtw3ld3AE5eETnoyukMzgrwbmaj7xjNiwt_IypvUoV0Rwd2xAGo82ms8tW7TeaCc2edno-oUGAWbySUMoxQJxbm7kTvRa6_a7NPacYpLf0VUMBU06hzFc/s320/guitar.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTT6i853XcxeKjZRoDmXJ5O9Nd_61a0oj_36Hnj_LgQfV0SyA4QZCTsjX5YG7j7CnVuVcoiQU9u7fgkW24lTR-KScvPkLvtV5ZhVgDSgf0PXSi5CuYXXCYLbxzOSnNLC3gG_dwkaZi_zM/s1600/car.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTT6i853XcxeKjZRoDmXJ5O9Nd_61a0oj_36Hnj_LgQfV0SyA4QZCTsjX5YG7j7CnVuVcoiQU9u7fgkW24lTR-KScvPkLvtV5ZhVgDSgf0PXSi5CuYXXCYLbxzOSnNLC3gG_dwkaZi_zM/s320/car.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As with every new technology, new challenges arise. Poor
designs will print poor parts. Anyone can print any part. Ethics associated
with creating human organs will need to be sorted through. And who will own these
designs? What about the patents and rights? How can something like this be
regulated, if you made it for yourself, and did so at home? (Gives new meaning
to home grown and DIY weekend projects.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many of us believe that the 3D printing revolution will be
game changing. A home 3D printer costs a shade over $ 1,000. It is this
affordable nature of the technology which makes it so interesting. In the hands
of millions of home users, the sky is now the limit. Let the printing begin.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-91029319826375411952013-02-01T16:03:00.002-05:002013-08-21T17:33:18.199-04:00Can you walk through walls?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7v1RXHsH6TxeLT0pQmbPjOdECDur8bQZ43OmamUvfbTsnBmrVEY-zb49jkaIlhvi7fS4HPmXzogurR5lywRDyR56ZBFVOy12yxxGE5MCYtu2XcWYobBXpjAQXTS18ajbcInS2st3KSQ/s1600/wall.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7v1RXHsH6TxeLT0pQmbPjOdECDur8bQZ43OmamUvfbTsnBmrVEY-zb49jkaIlhvi7fS4HPmXzogurR5lywRDyR56ZBFVOy12yxxGE5MCYtu2XcWYobBXpjAQXTS18ajbcInS2st3KSQ/s1600/wall.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Contrary to common perception,
there is not one - but <i>two</i> observable realities. Think about this. We
are not talking hypotheticals here. And no one is dreaming this up either.
These are realities which can <i>actually be observed</i>. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In other words, we can 'see' both
of them in action. One reality is more commonly known to us and we are more
familiar with it. It is the only one we seem to pay much attention to. But the
other reality is just as real and we can observe it with great precision in a
laboratory. In fact scientists have been doing that for decades.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The familiar reality is the one of
the <i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">bigger</span></i> objects. These are objects that include everything
from human beings to galaxies. For most people all reality ends there.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But what about this other reality?</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Well, this is the reality of the
smallest particles and the study of such sub-atomic particles is called Quantum
Mechanics. And the two realities could not be more different and yet they exist
simultaneously.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">What happens at the particle level
is a 'reality' that most of us would not even recognize. Frankly, we would be
hard pressed to simply believe it. And yet it is real. It is observable. And
its effects are not anomalies but are repeatable in experiment after
experiment. If it were not actually true, this reality could well be the
fictional stuff of Harry Potter novels, witches and magic potions.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">For example, in this sub-atomic
reality you can be at two places at the same time. In fact it is a relatively common
occurrence. Particles are seen to be in multiple places simultaneously. Back in
1996, Dr. Christopher Monroe and his colleagues at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo., described how they had divided a
single beryllium atom into two distinct states of existence.(<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/28/science/physicists-put-atom-in-2-places-at-once.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm">http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/28/science/physicists-put-atom-in-2-places-at-once.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In this world, a particle can be a
'wave' (creating imprints like water slapping gently on a beach) and in the
next instance, it can morph into a 'point' (and create impacts like pin pricks).
The particle can literally <i>choose </i>to be one state or the other. In fact, the
simple act of ‘watching’ the particle can trigger such a transition as if by
magic.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">These smallest particles also
exhibit something we now call 'entanglement' and which is clearly observable.
This is the curious phenomenon where two particles behave as if they are <i>actually
one</i>. And what makes this even more absurd and bizarre is that the two particles
could be billions of light years apart. And yet they seem somehow connected!
They act in unison in strange and unexplainable ways. No less then Einstein
called this "spooky". And it is. But it is also real.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In the quantum world, communication
appears to defy the laws of nature. Even the sacrosanct tenant which limits the
speed of light – is not spared. Particles seem to “know” what the other is
doing instantly, even when they are separated by inter-galactic distances. How?
No one knows.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In the phenomenon known as
‘tunneling’ – matter at the quantum level seems to be able to literally go
through and appear on the other side of barriers when all the known laws say
that it should not.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hund" style="cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank" title="Friedrich Hund"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Friedrich Hund</span></a></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> was the first to take notice of
tunneling in 1927 – almost eighty-six years ago!</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">After all these many decades, we
are no closer to resolving some of the mysteries of tunneling in the quantum
world. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">We, human beings, are also made up
of billions of these quantum particles. The 'reality’ of quantum mechanics
therefore also applies to us. It must. After all, we are made up of such sub-atomic
pieces. Unbeknownst to us, many of these weird and seemingly
impossible manifestations may well be occurring within us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I cannot walk through a wall. But
the quantum particles of which I am made up, sure can. So, when I stop at the
wall, does a part of me go through it anyway? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">This is the world from where the
next big revelations of our time are awaited. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">We don’t know much about this
world. But this much we do know: it exists within each of us. We are manifestations
of two realities at the same time. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-22904423568607466022013-01-15T14:55:00.000-05:002013-02-01T14:01:47.361-05:00The case for the "Cafeteria" plan...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5f7h65wudUgrCyI8OfTAGNPnfRRdIiFCfObD-0pUbM46TgdOvdLy6l2_X4FIdeHJHf5C9TkVTvKjbzHi0G-QF2Y1RzEpuRjnNLh9O71ochgKpOuFOawSPXOCpj2drAfKhyfBHgGQG9qY/s1600/cafeteria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5f7h65wudUgrCyI8OfTAGNPnfRRdIiFCfObD-0pUbM46TgdOvdLy6l2_X4FIdeHJHf5C9TkVTvKjbzHi0G-QF2Y1RzEpuRjnNLh9O71ochgKpOuFOawSPXOCpj2drAfKhyfBHgGQG9qY/s1600/cafeteria.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">Remember
the local hardware store? Your parents knew the checkout boy; there was a shelf
of light bulbs rather than a big light department; and you lingered up front looking for
quarters in the gumball machines….With the ice-cream counter selling root beer
floats (OK, only if you are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really old!</i>)
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">Enter the
Home Depot, WalMart and all the other gamechangers.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">Well, it's that time again. It is time for ma and pa organizations
to get out of the business of a different kind of "hardware". And I don’t mean light bulbs and hammers. I mean desktops and laptops. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">Five+ years ago, the latest
technology used to first appear at your organization, and many years later you <span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">got it for your home<em>.</em></span> The reason was that hardware was expensive.
Very expensive. </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">The place where you worked always had better technology than what you had at home. Organizational technology was more expensive,
much more sophisticated, and provided a far better user experience than anything you and your kids used
at home.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">In recent years, with the advent
of Apple's groundbreaking products (iPhone, iPad etc.) and the rapid proliferation of
smartphones and tablets (which together now outsell all laptops and desktops <em>combined</em>) -
the tables have finally turned. The newer, sleeker, better technology is well within
reach of the average consumer. </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">The "consumerization"
of technology now means that, in many instances, technology is coming into the enterprise <em><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">after
you the consumer have already bought it for your personal use.</span></em>
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">The leading edge of the
technology wave is now (literally) in the hands of the consumer and not the
enterprise. The user now demands that the organization make resources for work
available and accessible on these personal devices.<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><em> And if the
organization does not do this - in many instances, the users access the data on these devices
anyway, because they can</em><em>.</em></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">IT shops and technology decision
makers have not reconciled themselves to this change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They prefer the image of the elite provider
(read: IT Shop) working with the specialty vendor to outfit the staff rather than acknowledge the
Saturday afternoon shopping habits at <<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">insert
favorite retail conglomerate></i> of their staff who are busy adding to a pile of
electronics already at home and better than what they find at their desks at work.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">It is time for enterprises to
cede this arena to the user and get out of the business of maintaining hardware
once and for all. In fact it may be time for the organization to create a
template where each user is given a fixed amount of money every few years and can buy
the technology which they want to buy and which they use to access the enterprise
resources and assets. They would buy such a device from a technology "Cafeteria
Plan" provided to them by the organization, and very similar to the cafeteria plan for their HR benefits. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">You select what you need and you
buy it and maintain it.</span></i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">The
organization offsets or subsidizes the cost of technology. And the
support plan? You buy that too. IT cannot fix your iPad or iPhone anyway. Why not make it
official? If you lose your device, you buy another one. Again, one of your
own choice. The organization is not in the business of providing you hardware just
like they are not in the business of providing you a car to come to work.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">Perhaps IT can make recommendations on
hardware which the users can purchase. Maybe they can even provide instructions on
how to access the enterprise assets on such devices. They may even assist with some
installation, or provide guidance on minimum requirements e.g. an anti-virus
etc. But it is the user's personal device and the organization needs to be
careful not to become liable for such devices (a topic for another day).</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">In most organizations, the cell
phone is already a personal device. That handoff was completed a few years ago.
It is now time for laptops and desktops to follow suit.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">The cafeteria plan, which entitled
you to select which dentist, 401(k) or other benefits, now includes your very own choice of hardware.....You can have any device
you want, as long as it can connect you to the organizational resources and
allow you to do your work.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">And if you have a history of dropping your cell
phone into the sink, buy the extra protection rider. It’s your call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Because </span>Ma and Pa are retiring from the hardware business.</span></div>
Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-79709375016887557042013-01-10T17:34:00.001-05:002013-08-21T17:33:28.683-04:00Have you ever looked into the past?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i45.tinypic.com/wgq0ip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="http://i45.tinypic.com/wgq0ip.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Try this. Ask one of your young children (or your neighbors, if you don't have any of your own) "<b><i>Can you see into the past</i></b>?" The last time I asked this question I got a 12 year old doing facial contortions while trying to unravel the syntax of my 'trick' question. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">The problem was: <i>it was not a trick question</i>. It was not from a Jules Verne novel or Isaac Asimov's scifi mind. It was not a question from a movie script. And it had nothing to do with time machines. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<b><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">Can we see into the past? </span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span></i></b><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">The answer will surprise you. <b><i>You see the past every day and every night, and more of it at night.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">Here is how: When I get up, draw the drapes, look up into the sky and see our wonderful blazing sun - <i>I am seeing the past.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">In fact, I am looking at the sun as it was 8 minutes and 20 seconds ago! That is how long it takes sunlight to reach us on Earth. When I see the sun, in effect I am <i>looking at the sun as it was over 8 minutes - not as it is now.</i> It takes a moment to take this in and understand that we actually see the past all the time.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">At night, when the sky is ablaze with the stars and the galaxies - we can see even further into the past. If you look for <span style="color: blue;">the nearest star which is Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star, it is located at a distance of 4.2 light-years away from Earth.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"><br />A light year is the distance light travels in a single year – 9,460,528,000,000 kilometers. So the light we see coming from Proxima Centauri left the star 4.2 years ago! If you see it, you are looking over 4 years into the past.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">
<br />
The nearest Galaxy to our own is the Canis Major Dwarf galaxy, which was discovered only in 2003, and is located about 25,000 light years from our solar system. If you could see it, (it isn't very easy since it is a 'dwarf' galaxy on the other side of the Milky Way, which is our galaxy) - you would be looking <i>25,000 years into the past!</i><br />
<br />
What if you had a telescope? A really powerful telescope. Could you see further back in time. Indeed you could.<br />
<br />
Today, astronomers have spotted the most
distant supernova ever seen. It is nicknamed "Mingus", and it was described at the<a href="http://aas.org/meetings/aas221"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>221st American Astronomical Society
meeting</i></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> </i></span>in the US in January 2013. <br />
<br />
It is ten billion light-years distant. Want to see 10 billion years into the past? Take a peek: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20968199">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20968199</a>. Mingus will help shed light on so-called
dark energy, the force that appears to be speeding up cosmic expansion.<br />
<br />
Time, as we know it, began about 13.75 billion years ago after what is commonly called the "Big Bang". <br />
<br />
NASA believes it has found the most distant galaxy observed to date. MACS0647-JD is just a fraction of the size of the Milky Way and is believed to be 13.3 billion light years away. (<a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/news/space-nasa-galaxy,19149.html">http://www.tomshardware.com/news/space-nasa-galaxy,19149.html</a>).<br />
<br />
So if you had the right equipment, not only could you see into the distant past - you could see billions of years into the past. What you see, may not even be there anymore!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<strong><em>Not only can we see the past, but we can see almost to the beginning of time. In this moment, you can see all of elapsed time!</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-33021227497350514682013-01-08T15:08:00.001-05:002013-08-21T17:33:42.237-04:00Which BYOD are you preparing for?
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ctfkQ_9n4T_tf_f91UyWF037HbC8xDIzUGeUCuj45LPWJFDP8biBnVu46rWN7-lKuWCIoZiQRhL-TYj2nD_6cvshToQeFxdlbsBp_3OLFidepc7e9R5kXUjwxqgZQZIN-b6VDRNdkcA/s1600/owndevice.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ctfkQ_9n4T_tf_f91UyWF037HbC8xDIzUGeUCuj45LPWJFDP8biBnVu46rWN7-lKuWCIoZiQRhL-TYj2nD_6cvshToQeFxdlbsBp_3OLFidepc7e9R5kXUjwxqgZQZIN-b6VDRNdkcA/s400/owndevice.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></span> </div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Only a few years ago, my school age son and his cousin showed me a neat trick. They each put their cell phones behind their backs and proceeded to text a conversation to each other without looking at the device while they typed. They made very few typos. When I asked them what made them learn to do this, the explanation was simple. They were not allowed to bring their devices into the classroom or use them at school at all. So, they improvised.</b></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<strong><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Boy, times have changed. </span></strong> </div>
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<strong><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"></span></strong> </div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Today, there is a race afoot, and it is filled
with sharp turns and cliffs. If technology thought leaders don’t get ahead of
the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) curve, they will surely convert it into an
organizational <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bring-your-own-disaster</i>
program. All indications are that in small and medium size organizations, and
particularly in the non-profit and educational sectors, the rules of the road are
lacking. BYOD policies aren’t defining the right-of-way at the intersections.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Here is the
latest report from Forrester (12/27/12) and it seems to be indicating that not
only is BYOD firmly in place for phones and tablets -but it now includes even
PCs!</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Today,
more than 70 percent of organizations have some form of a BYOD
(bring-your-own-device) program, where employees use personal devices for
work-related tasks. BYOD has empowered the modern workforce, improved
productivity and allowed companies to deliver better services to customers and
partners. Forrester sees a continuation of this trend into 2013 and beyond. We
also see that BYOD will gradually expand from smartphones/tablets to personal
computers. (Forrester Research).</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Did you get
that? PCs too!</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Which technology
is now left for the organization to own? The copier, fax machine, the coffee
maker? This is not a hypothetical question anymore. Nor is it a crazy
question. The answer will likely pivot organizations and institutions to a
brand new way of dealing with technology, with all of the change such
redirection implies. In fact, in many places we are already referring to this
phenomenon as the broader BYOT (Bring your own Technology).</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Before you can
solve the problems, you have to be able to ask the right questions.</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">What happens
when the organization or institution does not buy the devices being used to connect to and
access the resources of the organization?<u1:p></u1:p> Is there now an IT
budget? If so, for what?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Which devices
are allowed to access organizational or school resources? How should they
connect to the resources? Should they have any restrictions on what they can and cannot do? How
would these be enforced? What security are we going to require and how will we monitor
these devices and how will we know who is connecting to our resources and technology assets?
What will all this cost us? </span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Who fixes these
personal devices when they are broken? How many different types of devices
should be allowed?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">How will they be
‘managed’ by the organization or institution e.g. should we mandate that
they have an anti-virus installed? If yes, who pays for that? How do you check
for it?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">How will such
devices be <i>wiped off</i> when the user leaves the organization or school system? Should we
even care? What are the legal ramifications of "wiping" off
organizational data from the personal devices of users and students? What if the user simply
<i>restores</i> the "wiped" data (from one of the free backup
vendors), moments after it was destroyed by the organization?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The questions
are endless. </span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"></span></b> </div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Leadership is struggling with this change.
Technology leaders are scratching their heads. On the one hand there is a
potential for tremendous savings in costs (which are for the most part being
transferred to users and even to students). At the same time, organizations and institutions are
losing control over their proprietary digital assets. Where are the speed
limits?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The greatest
current threat to data is not just from nefarious outsiders. It is increasingly
from the lack of clarity for well-intentioned insiders; those out for a Sunday
drive – and who have not been informed about the rules of the road. When we
talk about kids in school systems, the challenge of communicating these rules,
can be even more daunting. </span></b></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">And while all this is being debated, more personal devices
come into the organization and into every educational facility, with very few
controls, policies and procedures in place. </span></b><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
<b><u1:p></u1:p><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Which BYOD or BYOT are you preparing for?</span></b><o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-74377231283430206182013-01-07T15:37:00.000-05:002013-09-09T13:59:42.347-04:00Where did you take my "drive"? <span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlT0SYJCJRLQK2qAQsz0znKWHlZc5HDbM89-jaRpk9MNgWyFxDfuwXHbHGwqyB4p987ySqrldhGbIxH-b-EZPtDoBLOsSrUr9QylcmTuDukv_34vo_aDesfOcqoULKcoOivC7hgxint4/s1600/car-drive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlT0SYJCJRLQK2qAQsz0znKWHlZc5HDbM89-jaRpk9MNgWyFxDfuwXHbHGwqyB4p987ySqrldhGbIxH-b-EZPtDoBLOsSrUr9QylcmTuDukv_34vo_aDesfOcqoULKcoOivC7hgxint4/s1600/car-drive.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The email-cloud and the data file-cloud transitions
would have very different depictions on the local weatherman's radar map.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">One has a rainbow already gleaming over it,
with many companies finding the promised pot of gold after nary a gust of
wind. The other sends reams of input to the forecast models and generates
results that leave technologists shaking their heads and wondering what is really going on? And how to prepare for this pending
storm?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">First,
on email. The transition to cloud based email systems provides many options
(Hosted Microsoft Exchange, Gmail etc.) and many advantages. After such a
transition, the user experience is quite similar to that of an on-premises
email system</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">and the
'pain-of-the-change' for the user community - is not very high. In other words
- for the most part - such a transition is quite seamless. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The
resulting higher reliability, reduced costs, and scalability for
storage - all make this a worthwhile strategic decision for most organizations.
The cost benefits for non-profits are significantly <i>higher</i> because
of the far lower per-user costs which vendors like Microsoft allow. The
email transition to the cloud is therefore already a relatively mature model.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">But
what do we do with the "F Drive" - the data files - the files which
users access via the infamous "drives" - my drive, your drive,
the shared drive, the designated drive, the organization drive, Ms. Daisy's drive? Ahh that is another story altogether, and it is far from a mature model.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Many
organizations who have moved to cloud based email solutions, still keep the
rest of the data in house. When you ask - why? The sheer number of different
answers will surprise you. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">--Our users complain of latency with
cloud storage for files.</span></i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">--We have moved our own data file server to a data center -
that's our cloud.</span></i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">--</span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">We can't find someone who will take our 'drives' and
make them accessible to our users in the same way as before.</span></i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">--</span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">We are not sure that the cloud is secure for our files.</span></i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">--</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">What if the connection to the internet is broken - what
do we do then? How will get our files? How will we work?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">...</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">.and
so on.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Whereas,
most if not all of these questions are relevant, I think the most
important question really lies elsewhere.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Should the cloud based file storage be
architected in the same way in which files have been accessed for
decades?</span></i></b><br />
<br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or, is it time to re-think the
entire methodology for storage of files?</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Should
we perhaps be thinking of a new paradigm where file storage is based
on ubiquitous access, advanced search functions, access from any
device with any form factor, and finally - new ways to collaborate with multiple collaborators </span></i></b></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">in real time</span></i></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; line-height: 16.5pt;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">? </span></i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.5pt;"> <i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I suggest
that we are moving from a static one dimensional model for file storage, to a multi-dimensional model for collaboration and access - and this
requires us to make sure we are making considered good choices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">'Driving'
data files to the cloud is not a mature model - yet. That rainbow is also out there somewhere. It’s time we started
figuring out how to find it. </span></div>
</div>
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</script>Mukul Choprahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04902475981741172922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6098921904269031647.post-17059520122333555282013-01-03T17:18:00.000-05:002013-08-21T17:34:02.969-04:00Where have all the servers gone? Long time, no see...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALzGsq2okLxTtM03H1wz9-aCmpMqil8xLYalkQIpfEES5bzR6b0Ih-sHM41skbXVbLZ-81oc37savi8s_MoUgURFcasOB8nuGEA9pkm9Wki7Qo6Rh6Lt5QWvO5_nkvrBU0UuVgj8zLf0/s1600/servers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALzGsq2okLxTtM03H1wz9-aCmpMqil8xLYalkQIpfEES5bzR6b0Ih-sHM41skbXVbLZ-81oc37savi8s_MoUgURFcasOB8nuGEA9pkm9Wki7Qo6Rh6Lt5QWvO5_nkvrBU0UuVgj8zLf0/s1600/servers.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">The cloud is here to stay. It is cheaper. It is more reliable. It is scalable. The C-Suite has bought into it. Game over.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Now the rain starts....and you won't believe who is getting soaked!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>The Cloud is disrupting IT departments more than anyone else.</i> And many of them seem completely unprepared for that change.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Since 1982, technology has created some of the biggest changes for organizations in the last hundred years. The first change came with the PC and then with the internet itself. The landscape is littered with those who were unable to adapt to the technology juggernaut - companies, workers, governments etc. We went through two major tech cycles in which technologists were in high demand - salaries went through the roof - and demand was inexhaustible. More people got into the industry.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">But now the chickens have come home to roost.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Change is now affecting the technologists. And in a big way. The paradigm has shifted.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">For decades, the run of the mill IT shop has been primarily engaged in managing servers; installing and fixing desktops and printers; and installing software for users. Some went further, but most stayed home with just these main functions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Fast forward to today. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">The servers are leaving the building (if they have not already). Desktops are being outsold by tablets and will surely become an endangered species in the very near future. Tablets are owned by the users (BYOD) - they don't need IT to fix them because Apple and Samsung do that now.<i> </i>Printers last forever. 80% of all software built in 2012 - was for the cloud model.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">So what will IT do now? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">When I have conversations with </span><span style="color: blue;"> IT staffers and ask them this question, I get blank looks that seem to say, "You can't be serious?" Some will tell me that they will go and work in a datacenter (where all the servers are going). When I tell them that one of the Microsoft Datacenter (which manages their entire Cloud and Azure deployments) has less than 100 technicians working there and so datacenters may not be the panacea that they are looking for - I start seeing panic in their eyes.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">IBM is now looking to sell its server division to Lenovo. They got out of desktops just before the tablet era hit with a vengeance. Now servers? The canary may have spoken.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Change is in the air. It's getting cloudy. It smells like rain. IT is going to be soaked.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"> </span>
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