NEW NET Issues List for Week of Dec 24

Below is the final NEW NET Issues List for the week of 24 December 2007. There is no meeting this week due to the holidays. Same goes for next week.

Hope everyone gave and received something for Christmas that warmed your hearts and the hearts of others...

The ‘net

1. Parody sites start anti-social networking trend http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071221/wr_nm/web_facebook_parodies_life_dc
2. Internet renovates home sales http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2007-12-20-internet-real-estate_N.htm
3. Kayak Raises $196 Million, Buys Rival SideStep http://tinyurl.com/2hkdpx (TechCrunch) http://www.kango.com/
4. Kayak & Sidestep Merger Highlights Trends In Online Travel http://blog.kango.com/kango_news/kayak_sidestep_merger_highlights_trends_in_online_travel_139.html
5. The web as platform: Weaving a new interface http://mndoci.com/blog/2007/12/22/the-web-as-platform-weaving-a-new-interface/

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

1. Generational Divide in Copyright Morality http://tinyurl.com/2mnz2a (NY Times)
2. 'Bricking' bug threatens most HP, Compaq laptops http://tinyurl.com/2cvzjb (ComputerWorld)
3. Antivirus protection worse than a year ago http://www.heise-security.co.uk/news/100900
4. Inside a Modern Malware Distribution System http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20071221/tc_zd/222285
5. FBI aims for world's largest biometrics database http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071222/tc_nm/fbi_biometrics_dc
6. Malware flood driving new AV http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20071214/tc_infoworld/94043
7. Apples For The Army http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/12/20/apple-army-hackers-tech-security-cx_ag_1221army.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

1. A Wider Wireless World http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_53/b4065000572464.htm?sub=techmaven http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/20/BUK2U1JJG.DTL
2. Users left in lurch by analog cellular network shutdown http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_on_hi_te/cellular_sunset
3. GPS To Boost Cell Phone Sales http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071221/tc_cmp/205101677
4. Intuit iPhone-friendly Quicken priced at $3/month http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071219/wr_nm/intuit_dc
5. Top 10 Predictions For The Wireless Industry in 2008 http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071220/tc_cmp/205100790
6. In-car cellphone bans: man sues Chicago as UK eyes jailtime http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071222-in-car-cellphone-bans-man-sues-chicago-as-uk-eyes-jailtime.html

Open Source

1. Microsoft OKs open-source license http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_7776956
2. Open Source Developers Settle GPL Lawsuit http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071219/tc_cmp/204806058
3. OpenOffice Online Now Available For Beta Testing http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071218/tc_cmp/204805670
4. Interview with Richard Stallman: Four Essential Freedoms http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/cnews/article.php/3717476
5. Online library reaches million book milestone http://www.linux.com/feature/123255
6. McKesson Migrates To Linux As Boost To Patient Safety http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071223/tc_cmp/205200538

SkyNet

1. Google Monopoly Begins http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/web_services_browser/the_google_monopoly_begins.html
2. U.S. Regulators ok Google-DoubleClick deal http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-21828199.htm
3. Malware Bumps Google Ads From Web Pages http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20071220/tc_pcworld/140691
4. Gmail Remembers the Milk http://www.profy.com/2007/12/22/gmail-remembers-the-milk/

General Technology

1. Tesla’s Chairman and New CEO Talk Transmission Snags and Raising Another $40M http://tinyurl.com/34jrgo (Earth2Tech)
2. Nanosolar's growing aims http://www.mercurynews.com/healthandscience/ci_7786487
3. OLPC Heralds Era of Low-Cost Computing http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20071220/tc_pcworld/140697
4. Climate Consensus ‘Busted’? http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/climate-consensus-busted/?hp
5. Adapter turns SD card into IDE drive http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20071223/simple-adapter-turns-your-sd-card-into-an-ide-drive/
6. Technology in 2008 http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10410912#top

Leisure & Entertainment

1. One Million Deaths Per Day On Duels.com http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/21/one-million-deaths-per-day-on-duelscom/
2. Chuck Norris sues, says his tears no cancer cure http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071222/en_nm/norris_lawsuit_dc
3. Blockbuster raising prices for service http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_en_bu/blockbuster_prices
4. MTV, Bruckheimer to launch game studio http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071219/wr_nm/mtv_games_dc
5. Secret Web Sites, Coded Messages: The New World of Immersive Games http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_args

Economy and Technology

1. Circuit City Gets Crushed http://tinyurl.com/2h2sqz (Business Week)
2. Army contractor iRobot wins patent suits http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071222/ap_on_hi_te/irobot_lawsuits
3. Emerson profitable outside spotlight http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071220/ap_on_bi_ge/emerson_electric

Civilian Aerospace

1. Coalition For Space Exploration Announces 2008 Leadership http://tinyurl.com/36b39t (Aero-News.Net)
2. Spaceports still taxiing towards takeoff http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1023/1
3. The Year In Space http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/21/530247.aspx
4. 2008 forecast: The year progress must be made in space http://tinyurl.com/2xmfd9 (Flight)
5. Prototype Moon Lander Takes Test Flight http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/071221-moon-lander.html
6. Rocket launch part of new biz for UP Aerospace http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2007/12/17/daily26.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Supercomputing & GPUs

1. NVIDIA Launches New Community Site for HPC Developers http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1962982.html
2. Purdue to Offer HPC Curriculum http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1962653.html
3. HPC Parting Shots at 2007 http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1967844.html
4. InfiniBand and 10GbE Head for Showdown http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1963424.html
5. Shoot To Kill http://www.forbes.com/technology/forbes/2008/0107/092.html

*****

NEW NET Issues List for 18 December 2007

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 18 December 2007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 7:00 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

The ‘net

1. Shortcuts for your WordPress blog http://yodel.yahoo.com/2007/12/13/shortcuts-for-your-wordpress-blog/
2. Microsoft's Ultimate Avatar All Night Party http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/microsofts_ultimate_avatar_all.php
3. Amazon SimpleDB 101 & Why It Matters http://gigaom.com/2007/12/14/amazon-simple-db/
4. Microsoft buys Web map company Multimap http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_multimap
5. Ribbit debuts as “Silicon Valley’s phone company” http://www.mercextra.com/blogs/takahashi/2007/12/17/ribbit-debuts-as-silicon-valleys-phone-company/

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

1. What the Creative in 'Creative Commons' Really Means http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20071214/tc_zd/221757
2. Trojan robbing online bank customers http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/121307-zbot-trojan-robbing-banks.html
3. Defendant can't be forced to divulge encryption passphrase http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

1. T-Mobile + Twitter http://blog.twitter.com/2007/12/t-mobile-twitter.html
2. T-Mobile Turns Off Twitter? http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/14/t-mobile-turns-off-twitter/
3. Updated GarageBand does custom ringtones for iPhone http://tinyurl.com/22eekp (Ars technica)
4. Google Builds iPhone Interface For Picasa Photo Service http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071214/tc_cmp/204803043

Open Source

1. A sleek introduction of $299 laptops http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/14/BU4QTSTAN.DTL
2. Sun will offer back-line support for OpenOffice http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20071214/tc_infoworld/94047
3. Netherlands adopts open-source software http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071214/ap_on_hi_te/netherlands_open_source
4. Open source and the corporate elephant http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20071212/tc_infoworld/93988

SkyNet

1. Googleberry: sync Gcalendar with Blackberries http://informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/google_takes_mo.html
2. GoogleKnol: Encouraging people to contribute knowledge http://searchengineland.com/071213-213400.php http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/encouraging-people-to-contribute.html
3. Google's Webmaster Tools: More Diagnostic Features and Video Sitemaps http://searchengineland.com/071213-184847.php
4. Google Gets Ready to Rumble With Microsoft http://tinyurl.com/22qsf4 (NY Times)
5. Google Profiles http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/12/google-profiles.html

General Technology

1. Intel's new ultramobile processors http://tinyurl.com/22unlv (Ars technica)
2. Intel Unveils Tiny Flash Drive; Tips End Of The Hard Disk? http://www.crn.com/hardware/204803759
3. Review: Windows XP (humor or fact?) http://dotnet.org.za/codingsanity/archive/2007/12/14/review-windows-xp.aspx
4. IBM, Partners Target 32 nm Process Technology http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1935929.html
5. Digitizing the Streets with NASA Technology http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/12/earthmine-digitizes-world-nasa.html

Leisure & Entertainment

1. New 3D camera eyes Wii-style gameplay http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1225985620071213
2. Nintendo and GameStop to guarantee Wiis after holiday http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071214/tc_nm/nintendo_wii_dc
3. Universities bring video games into classrooms http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071206/tc_nm/column_pluggedin_dc
4. Physical therapists prescribe Wii time http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071206/tc_nm/videogames_therapy_tech_dc

Economy and Technology

1. Surviving the 2008 recession http://scobleizer.com/2007/12/15/surviving-the-2008-recession/
2. Scripps Networks Launches Online Real Estate Listing Service http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071214/tc_cmp/204802263
3. Holiday Shoppers Drawn To Uggs, Wii, Social Shopping Sites http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20071215/tc_cmp/204803553
4. Anatomy & Optimization Of A Local Business Profile http://searchengineland.com/071217-081815.php

Civilian Aerospace

1. Space experiment contest launched http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7139356.stm
2. Space Mail System Works (Except for that Lost Package) http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/071212-tw-space-tether.html
3. SpaceDev Attracts Institutional Investor http://spacedev.com/press_more_info.php?id=218
4. Google expands the heavens http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-12-13/goods_next.php

Supercomputing & GPUs

1. GPGPU: A Stream Computing Story http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/networking/features/article.php/3715851
2. Faster Chips Are Leaving Programmers in Their Dust http://tinyurl.com/288s9m (NY Times)
3. HP plots path to server accelerator madness in '08 http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/12/11/hp_gpgpu_fpga/
4. NextComputing Adds Quadro FX 5600 to Flextop Computers http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1949922.html
5. MIT Cycling Team Sets Record in Human Powered Computation http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1946306.html
6. Many-core and Reconfigurable Supercomputing Conference http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1936105.html

*****

Innovation Projects

Innovation projects are one of the best aspects of being a manufacturing industry process consultant and a tech enthusiast actively involved in a couple areas of high interest.

In the context of this post, 'innovation projects' refer to those projects that for various reasons fall outside the scope of projects with which people inside the organization are familiar and have a significant track record.

Normal projects are ones focused on supporting reliable output of an organization's traditional products or services. Those products or services are likely to be at least one year old and often are several years old. There are departments and procedures established within the organization to support these products. An organization needs an extremely strong driving force to decide its internal people resources can't adequately support those established products. Even if an organization's employee has the responsibilities that two, three or even four people had 20 years ago, management within the organization is unlikely to allocate money in the budget to hire or allow someone from outside the organization to do activities which internal personnel normally took care of in the past. For these reasons and more, engineers or technical people such as myself are seldom brought in to do work related to established products.

Innovation projects, however, involve either new products or, occasionally, major changes to existing products or processes. Innovation projects for which I am especially likely to be considered are those which fall outside the normal experience of most members of an organization.

Examples of this are when a manufacturing company decides to pursue brand extension, to significantly extend the level of customer support and product development compared to what they historically provided, or to move into an entirely new market. Innovation project schedules rarely allow company personnel time to learn new skills needed to successfully organize and implement the project, so the organization is willing to bring in outside assistance.

The flat world, the global economy, downsizing, knowledge worker collaborative tools, and USA demographics (especially retirement of Baby Boomers and a dwindling engineering and technical workforce in America) all contribute to a growing need for outside resources to successfully develop and implement innovation projects.

If a person likes variety, challenge, emerging technologies and exploring new ways of working and thinking, the above scenario holds both many opportunties and great rewards. In some ways America may be entering one of its best periods of innovation.

There are five innovation projects I'm currently involved with or developing proposals for. All these projects hold great promise for either bringing some cool new products to market or revolutionizing their markets. One project might even create an entirely new market.

Now I just need six more hours in each day...

*****

NEW NET Issues List for 11 Dec 2007

NEW NET will meet tonight at the Cambria Suites Hotel on the north side of Appleton. Cambria has friendly and helpful staff, reliable free wireless, tasty food and a varied selection of beverages. Below is the final list of issues for the Tuesday, 11 December 2007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 7:00 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering at Cambria Suites Hotel, 3940 N. Gateway Drive, Appleton Wisconsin, USA.

The ‘net

1. The Dr. Seuss Jumble: Naming Web Sites http://tinyurl.com/39y4kg (NY Times)
2. Internet providers question 'neutral net' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7116929.stm
3. Sun guru foresees data center disaster in '08 http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/12/sun_guru_forese.php
4. Online content success without ads http://www.news.com/2100-1038_3-6222063.html
5. LinkedIn courts developers http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0932121820071210?sp=true
6. Need a Wiki? Just Add Wetpaint http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2229244,00.asp
7. Microsoft Office Live Workspace Goes to Public Beta http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2230146,00.asp
8. The Evolution of Personal Publishing http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_evolution_of_personal_publ.php

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

1. The Portable Risk of High Capacity USB Drives http://gigaom.com/2007/12/05/the-portable-risk-of-high-capacity-usb-drives/
2. SAFE Act won't turn mom-and-pop shops into WiFi cops http://tinyurl.com/28tyev (Ars technica)
3. Hackers force mass website closures http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3007298.ece
4. Hackers Launch Major Attack on US Military Labs http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140390-c,hackers/article.html
5. Warning sounded over 'flirting robots' http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9831133-56.html
6. Ask rolls out search privacy tool http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7138260.stm
7. RIAA: Those CD rips of yours are still "unauthorized" http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071211-riaa-those-cd-rips-of-yours-are-still-unauthorized.html
8. Microsoft Offers Free Copy of Windows Vista Ultimate if you Surrender Privacy http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4139
9. In Test, Canadian ISP Splices Itself Into Google Homepage http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/12/canadian-isps-p.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

1. Kindle can light up your life http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/672259,CST-FIN-Andy29.article
2. TSA Greenlights Paperless Boarding Passes http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/04/travel/main3573858.shtml
3. “Comes With Music”: Nokia Won't Play iPhone's Tune http://tinyurl.com/22leqk (BusinessWeek)
4. AT&T reopens its open network http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9830094-37.html?tag=newsmap
5. Jajah allows really, really cheap intl. calling from your iPhone OR iPod Touch http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=2819
6. Internet to Invade the Airways http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/internet_airplanes.php
7. Nokia Prepares for Fisticuffs with Google http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006050.html
8. Japanese cellphone operator gets Android up and running http://www.digitalworldtokyo.com/index.php/digital_tokyo/articles/japanese_cellphone_operator_gets_android_up_and_running/

Open Source

1. Software Freedom Law Center goes after Verizon http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9830783-7.html?tag=newsmap
2. Microsoft feeling heat from Linux in budget flash PC market http://tinyurl.com/ypr6h9 (Ars technica)
3. Ruby on Rails 2.0 released for Web apps http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20071207/tc_infoworld/93911
4. Larry Wall: Programming is Hard, Let's Go Scripting... http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2007/12/06/soto-11.html?page=1
5. "Cloudbook" UMPC to run Googlish Linux http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6962839488.html

SkyNet

1. Google apps get faster on iPhone http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/04/google-pre-launches-new-iphone-interface/
2. Google Ruins Its iPhone Home Page http://informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/google_ruins_it.html
3. Google Mac Developer Playground Unveiled http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140335-c,google/article.html
4. Google Docs and Spreadsheets http://blog.compete.com/2007/12/06/google-docs-spreadsheets/

General Technology

1. Girls Dominate the Siemens Competition http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2007/tc2007123_368568.htm
2. Don’t Buy an AMD Barcelona Until 2008 http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35149/118/
3. IBM Researchers Build Supercomputer-on-a-Chip http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140343-c,cpuarchitecture/article.html
4. Western Digital DRM'd hard drive won't let you share MP3, DivX http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/12/western-digital.html
5. New transistor design may kick off race to 10GHz http://tinyurl.com/2ekgbm (Ars technica)
6. Toyota Shows Violin-Playing Robot http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWAzbeeHkC45cqw8PGHGe6DD7qZwD8TC223O0
7. Toshiba Launches 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB Solid State Drives http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2007_12/pr1001.htm
8. Toshiba to Launch Innovative Rechargeable Battery Business http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2007_12/pr1101.htm

Leisure & Entertainment

1. Battle of the Bands: 'Guitar Hero III' vs. 'Rock Band' http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315125,00.html
2. Software changing how photos can be cataloged http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/12/03/story12.html http://www.getphotology.com
3. SmugMug Automatically Scales Photos and Video http://tinyurl.com/2v8vkp (TechCrunch)
4. Looking Beyond Megapixels http://tinyurl.com/2k4zfq (NY Times)
5. Flickr + Picnik = Web Photo Editing Made Easy http://laist.com/2007/12/04/flickr_picnik_w.php

Economy and Technology

1. CompUSA shutting down; who’s next? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119706842364217640.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
2. Mark Zuckerberg cashes out? http://valleywag.com/tech/scoop/mark-zuckerberg-cashes-out-331589.php
3. Valleywag confession: We're frigtards, and no money to Mark http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/12/valleywag-confession-were-frigtards.html
4. Who should Apple buy? http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/12/07/who-should-apple-buy
5. Local Online Ads Will Reach $12.6 Billion In 2008 http://searchengineland.com/071207-163012.php
6. Netflix Is Stuck, Dude: Nonissue? http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/12/06/netflix-is-stuck-dude.aspx
7. Jonathan Ive: One step from the top, Essex boy who reached Apple’s core http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article3019090.ece
8. Entrepreneur's Journal: Ditch the phone book and advertise online? http://bhp.bloggingstocks.com/2007/12/08/entrepreneur-s-journal-ditch-the-phone-book-and-advertise-onli/

Civilian Aerospace

1. Lunar X Prize - Collaborators Off and Running http://www.space.com/news/071206-update-astrobotic-lunarxprize.html
2. Race to space http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071207/LOCAL/712070328/-1/LOCAL17
3. Aliens Apart http://www.space.com/searchforlife/071206-seti-aliens-apart.html
4. Down-to-earth opportunities more likely to get VC funding http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_7669430?nclick_check=1
5. Google Lunar X Prize's race to the moon has begun http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9830063-7.html?tag=newsmap

Supercomputing & GPUs

1. Mechdyne Installs Immersive Visualization Displays in Wales http://news.tgc.com/msgget.jsp?mid=1920825
2. Iranians claim to have built Opteron-based supercomputer http://tinyurl.com/2b5gh2 (ComputerWorld)
3. Linked PS3s become supercomputer http://www.gameindustry.com/ih/item.asp?id=1480

*****

Virtual Organizations

Effective virtual organizations was the focus of an article I read today from a high quality online resource for high productivity computing.

Virtual organizations, from my viewpoint, are informally or formally-structured groups of people who work together toward a common goal or goals with a majority of the group's interaction and collaboration being done via telecommunication tools because members' geographical location or other considerations preclude daily or weekly in-person meetings.

Another definition of a virtual organization, from a 1999 issue of Organization Science, is "a collection of geographically distributed, functionally and/or culturally diverse entities that are linked by electronic forms of communication and rely on lateral, dynamic relationships for coordination."

Wikipedia appears to prefer the term 'virtual enterprise' rather than 'virtual organization.' The entry for 'virtual enterprise' has a number of definitions and is worth reading if interested in this topic.

Several factors or trends have contributed to the increasing prevalence and importance of virtual organizations. Reading "The World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, although it's several years old now, will give you a good starting point for understanding these four factors:

1. The internet and increasing adoption of high speed internet connections (rather than dial-up) has made it possible for people and organizations to communicate and work together in ways that were never possible before.
2. A huge new labor pool in China, Russia and Eastern Europe has become, or is becoming, available to the "free world" markets.
3. Organizations and individuals are changing their communication and collaboration processes in revolutionary ways:
1. Large organizations are outsourcing critical functions such as innovation and human resources -- these once rare or unthinkable moves are now becoming common.
   
2. Individuals are maintaining and building ties around the world, irrespective of employers, cultures and age -- widespread horizontal networking.
3. The internet/web is becoming a primary source of information, with hard-copy information being nearly irrelevant to a large segment of people under 30 years old. Many of those under 30 use a printed telephone book rarely, if at all.
4. An increasing number of coworking or shared office facilities have been launched, such as the Hat Factory, Citizen Space and CitizenDesk.
   

Prior to the 21st century, a geographical critical mass of people with the same interests was important for forming an effective organization. The organization's members needed to meet daily or on some other regular basis in order to discuss their common goals, work activities, problems and potential solutions to effectively accomplish their goals. The invention of the telephone and rapid travel (railroads, cars, airplanes) allowed organizations to expand and have offices in separate cities, states, and countries. But a certain critical mass of people in one geographical location and a fairly regular in-person interaction between organization members was still required to keep the organization successfully moving toward common goals.

In the world of 2007 and beyond, virtual organizations are exploring ways to create 'virtual critical mass.' That critical mass is still required to make an organization effective in reaching its goals, but the critical mass is being achieved in new ways such as:

1. Collaborative websites
1. Google Groups, Yahoo Groups
2. Wikis, such as Wikispaces, MediaWiki or PB Wiki
3. Google Docs, Zoho or other online productivity suites
4. Separate web productivity apps, such as Backpack, Gcalendar, or MS SkyDrive.
   
2. Mobile and internet communications
1. Apple iPhone
2. Blackberries
3. Smartphones
4. Cellphones
5. Skype, Jajah, Grand Central
6. Gphone (Android) -- soon, I hope...
   
3. Online conferencing (voice, video, whiteboards, etc)
   
4. Blogs
5. Organization websites
6. Unconferences
   

If things work out well, I'll be headed to a "Building Effective Virtual Organizations" workshop in January 2008. Learning how to build or participate in effective virtual organizations is a skill which will help me better enjoy tomorrow's world. Stay tuned for more about the workshop and virtual organizations...

*****

Geek Breakfast

Had breakfast today with three interesting geeks.

With as much as these guys do with computers and the internet and high tech stuff, one would tend to think they were computer science majors in college, or at least some type of science, math or engineering field.

Not the case. One was a music major. One did philosophy and art. The other was in performing arts.

That says a lot about where high tech, and technology in general, is going. No longer is "tech" the sole domain of STEM people (science, technology, engineering, math). Tech is something that more and more is just a part of everyday life.

Take a survey of people you know who are under 25 years old. Ask how many have a land line telephone. Ask them whether they spend more time reading their news on paper or from a computer screen. Ask them if they use the printed phonebook yellow pages to find a local business. Find out whether they get all their music on CD at the local music store. Cell phones and portable music players are transitioning from being technology items to being fashion accessories or just part of a person's wardrobe.

It's interesting to see the impact of non-STEM people on the technology world. The emphasis in some cases is shifting from how many features can we give something to how can we design it so people are more likely to use all the features. How can we design websites so people can easily find all the information that's on the website. How should we shape technology so everyone can and will use it, instead of just the geeks who know how to write the software and build the hardware.

This isn't to say it's not important to have hard-core geeks who understand coding and advancing new technological discoveries and standing on the shoulders of giants. We still need to figure out how to build things one atom at a time. But as we learn how to connect 26 atoms to make molecules, and connect 200 molecules to build larger parts and use 3D printers to make objects we can hold in our hands and use, we also need to have philosophy, art, music and performing arts people involved to make sure that those atoms, molecules and objects are worthwhile and useful to society. We should make those objects because people want them, because someone will buy them, and because they make the world a better place, not just because we can make them...

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NEW NET Issues List for 04 December 2007

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 04 December 2007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 7:00 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

The ‘net

1. There's No Money In The Long Tail of the Blogosphere http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/blogosphere_long_tail.php
2. Future of the Web coming fast and furious http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9824586-7.html
3. NASA Releases New, Interactive Map of Antarctica http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3922038&page=1
4. AT&T Boosts Dial-Up Fees http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20071201/tc_pcworld/140184
5. Cybersquatting daisy-chain leads to Dell trademark infringement lawsuit http://tinyurl.com/25jhdt (Ars technica)
6. SixApart Sells LiveJournal To A Russian Group http://gigaom.com/2007/12/02/sixapart-sells-livejournal-to-a-russian-group/
7. Who clicks on ads? And what might this mean? http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/12/03/who_clicks_on_a.html

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

1. Subverted search sites lead to massive malware attack in progress http://tinyurl.com/3yu6gd (ComputerWorld)
2. Google expunges malware sites from search results http://tinyurl.com/2f2x2g (ComputerWorld)
3. Feds lose bid for Amazon.com customer records http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9824635-38.html?tag=cd.blog
4. DNI Must Release Telecom Immunity Meeting Docs ASAP http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/top-spy-must-re.html
5. How Does Bruce Schneier Protect His Laptop Data? With His Fists — and PGP http://tinyurl.com/2zdm86 (Wired)
6. Top of SANS 2007 Internet Threats List: The Gullible http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2223021,00.asp
7. Malware Targets E-Banking Security Technology http://tinyurl.com/2gxnue (WashingtonPost)
8. Government-Sponsored Cyberattacks on the Rise http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313749,00.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

1. Verizon iPhone WILL be here within a year or so: here’s why http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=2761
2. DIA sets Wi-Fi free http://www.denverpost.com/ci_7585581
3. When Networks Collide: AT&T and Apple http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20071129_003521.html
4. In Japan Half The Top Selling Books Are Written On Mobile Phones http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/02/in-japan-half-the-top-selling-books-are-written-on-mobile-phones/
5. Verizon Wireless Joins Google-Backed Phone Consortium http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/12/verizon-wireles.html
6. iPhone browser count rockets past WinMo http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/12/04/iphone-browser-count-rockets-past-winmo/

Open Source

1. GNU PDF to fill missing gap in functionality http://www.linux.com/feature/122195
2. Cloudsmith service pushes 'virtual distros' http://news.yahoo.com/i/1817
3. Writer's Café: An IDE for writers http://www.linux.com/feature/121741

SkyNet

1. Google Spectrum Auction Is a Go http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2225530,00.asp
2. Consumers Win in Spectrum Auction http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/whos-going-to-win-spectrum-auction.html
3. Google Earth Heading Towards Extinction? http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/28/google-earth-heading-towards-extinction/
4. Google: Our Maps http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-our-maps.html
5. My Location: Google Mapping Software Bridges the GPS Gap http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2223974,00.asp
6. Group chat and rich emoticons in Gmail chat http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/group-chat-and-rich-emoticons-now.html
7. Google's Search for Renewable Energy (BlogRunner smorgasbord) http://www.blogrunner.com/snapshot/news/6/0/googles_search_for_renewable_energy/
8. AIM in Gmail Chat https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=61024

General Technology

1. AMD's Struggles Knock It Off Top 10 Chip-Maker List http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140077-c,chips/article.html
2. Testers see Windows XP passing Vista http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_xp_sp3_performance
3. Is software too soft? http://blog.jonudell.net/2007/11/30/is-software-too-soft/

Leisure & Entertainment

1. A well-polished iPod http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/gift_guide/mens/view.bg?articleid=1047524#articleFull
2. Amazon 1 Billion MP3 Giveaway Offer http://tinyurl.com/2supfh (PaidContent)
3. Nero Bringing TiVo Technology to the PC http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20071128/tc_zd/220439
4. The games helmet that reads minds http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article2926810.ece
5. $18 Billion Merger Brings Guitar Hero, Warcraft Under One Roof http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/12/merger-brings-g.html

Economy and Technology

1. Motorola's Ed Zander Out, Greg Brown In As CEO http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2225556,00.asp
2. TJX to Pay $40.9M to Banks for Data Breach http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140174-c,networksecurity/article.html
3. Dell shares fall 12.8% Friday http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_hi_te/earns_dell

Civilian Aerospace

1. Entrepreneur of the Year: Elon Musk http://www.inc.com/magazine/20071201/entrepreneur-of-the-year-elon-musk.html
2. K-12 Students Design Space Greenhouse http://www.challenger.org/clc/engdesign.cfm
3. What space startups really need http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1007/1
4. Space Entrepreneurs Wait for that 'Netscape Moment' http://www.space.com/spacenews/071126-new-space-markets.html
5. Space tripping: Out-of-this-world adventures http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22030890/

Supercomputing & GPUs

1. Larrabee and Intel's acquisition of Neoptica http://www.beyond3d.com/content/news/534
2. Desktop Supercomputer Gets a Name http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1913860.html
3. Canadian student maps brain to image search http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1891450207;fp;16;fpid;1

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