Russ Savage: Digital Business Technology

surplus

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:10:13 GMT

From Business Week, July 31, 2006

Iran's annual oil and gas revenues:     $60.000 billion
annual aid contribution to Hezbollah: $   .180 billion
annual aid contribution to Hamas:    $   .040 billion

and from Business Week, July 31, 2006
Russia's government owned Gazprom gas company:

annual revenue: $60.000 billion

Some customers and their reliance on Gazprom:

Finland:            100%
Latvia:              100%
Lithuania:         100%
Slovkia:            100%
Greece:         87%
Czech Republic:    81%
Austria:             73%
Turkey:               66%

A Revolution in Wealth, by the Tofflers
What most business, political and civil leaders have not yet clearly understood
is a simple fact: An advanced economy needs an advanced society.
For every economy is a product of the society in which it is embedded
and is dependent on its key institutions.

(chapter 5)

in another place in the book, they mention the concept of: surplus complexity.
more on that later.

Wed, 12 Nov 2003 02:27:48 GMT

Universities: A marriage of convenience. Technology alliances are proliferating in higher education, where companies sponsor research that advances their agendas, and concerns over conflicts of interest give way to pragmatism. [CNET News.com - Front Door]

Corporate classrooms. Is tech industry a savior or danger to education? [CNET News.com - Front Door]

The consumer defines value, producers provide choice. II

Tue, 04 Nov 2003 02:06:40 GMT

SJ Mercury: Adding style to substance. It used to be that only high-end companies such as Apple Computer or Sony cared about industrial design -- the distinctive look and feel of their products. But in an age when hardware has become a commodity, many more tech companies are coming to realize that aesthetics matter. [Tomalak's Realm]

Sun, 20 Apr 2003 21:06:00 GMT

on the difference between marks and locks. JD Lasica has a nice pointer to a story about progress in the digital watermarking debate. She wonders about this progress because of work (in part by Ed Felten) suggesting “that all such encryption systems can be defeated.” But there is an important distinction that this debate needs. I’m a strong supporter of flawed (in the sense of defeatable) watermarking. Here’s why: [Lessig Blog]

Sat, 19 Apr 2003 14:16:12 GMT

Oh, Nooo! What If GPS Fails?. John Petersen, the director of the Arlington Institute, helps the government think about the unthinkable. His latest inquiry: What if the U.S. Global Positioning System stopped working? By Andrew Zolli from Wired magazine. [Wired News]

Thu, 17 Apr 2003 04:09:44 GMT

Unwired: Internet not a necessity. Those who don't use the Net aren't necessarily offline because they can't afford it, according to a new study that casts some doubt on traditional theories about the digital divide. [CNET News.com]

Tune Out, Turn Off, Drop Offline. Not everyone who is offline is too poor to get connected to the Internet. A growing number of so-called Internet dropouts are staying away because of frustration over technical problems, according a recent study on the digital divide. By Kristen Philipkoski. [Wired News]

Thu, 17 Apr 2003 04:06:22 GMT

Filling in security GAAPs. A bid to promote good practices in security could finally make IT security as popular--or at least as standardized--as financial reporting. [CNET News.com]

Tue, 15 Apr 2003 21:39:44 GMT

Lawyers see security suit-riddled future. Speaking at the RSA data security conference, lawyers warn of Harry the Hacker and say security law could be the next big area of cyber law. [CNET News.com]

Tue, 15 Apr 2003 21:39:01 GMT

EE Times: Cryptographers sound warnings on Microsoft security plan. Whitfield Diffie, a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, said an integrated security scheme for computers is inevitable, but the Microsoft approach is flawed because it fails to give users control over their security keys. [Tomalak's Realm]

Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:31:17 GMT

Palm Pulls the Plugs at Work. Free at last: A case study in learning to love the unchained corporation of tomorrow. A look at Palm's bid to turn itself into a wireless workforce. By Brad Stone from Wired magazine. [Wired News]

Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:30:25 GMT

Mother of invention. How the Mosaic browser triggered a digital revolution. [CNET News.com]

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 11:18:49 GMT

Nokia software to tackle corporate apps access [IDG InfoWorld]

"Mobile users will be able to access corporate e-mail, calendars, phone directories and other applications from mobile phones and other devices using software introduced Tuesday by Nokia. at the CTIA Wireless trade show here....

"Nokia One is designed to let carriers provide at lower cost the kinds of services that have been provided using server-based systems set up with large enterprises. With it, corporate applications can be accessed via voice, SMS (Short Message Service), WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and the Web on a variety of devices, including mobile phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), PCs and fixed-line phones."

Not new, just better understood

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 14:22:25 GMT

Don Park: Signing with voice. Don Park is exploring digital signatures based upon your voice. I've always been intrigued with voice as a biometric because of the ability to simply use existing "reader" infrastructure, i.e., phones. [Scott Loftesness]

Most of us have had that phone conversation where we're told it may be recorded. We're then asked to identify ourselves and as the conversation continues we are asked to say yes at certain points - think of how this parallels filling out a form and signing it.

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 12:45:21 GMT

New York Times: Tiny transactions, without the coins. Ken Belson reports from Tokyo on the Suica and the bitPass Edy proximity payment cards -- both developed by Sony.
Pockets in Japan, however, are getting lighter with the growing use of integrated-circuit smart cards. The size of a credit card, they are packed with thin antennas and an encrypted integrated chip that can be used thousands of times to pay for train fares, meals at restaurants and snacks at convenience stores. In less than two years, nearly seven million people in Japan have started using one of two types of cards, both based on technology developed by Sony.
Discussion continues on Slashdot. Howard Rheingold also covers the story. [Scott Loftesness]

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 02:19:21 GMT

The Man Who Would Buy Everything, Everywhere. Supermarket "club cards" pose a problem for the privacy-minded: Is it worth a few dollars in savings to let the store track your purchases of TV dinners and home pregnancy tests? By David F. Gallagher. [New York Times: Technology]

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 16:14:33 GMT

Why we need a high-tech shakeout. How many high-tech companies have folded their tents since the bubble burst? Not enough, say experts at McKinsey. [CNET News.com]

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 11:40:40 GMT

Contactless Payments. Earlier today I posted an announcement about the Smart Card Alliance's new white paper on contactless payments. I read through the paper this afternoon and would like to highly recommend it as very useful background for anyone wanting to understand what's happening in this important emerging technology arena. By the way, I've been calling them "proximity payments" -- and have set up a separate weblog category to cover that subject. [Scott Loftesness]

Smart Card Alliance: Contactless Payments White Paper. The Smart Card Alliance has released a new white paper on contactless payments.
The latest trend in retail payment applications is contactless payment. Contactless payment systems are used successfully in Asia, Europe and North America and offer a number of advantages to issuers, retailers, and consumers. Contactless payment allows issuers to penetrate the cash payment market, enjoy increased customer transaction volume, and improve customer retention and loyalty. Retailers realize benefits due to faster transaction times, increased revenue, improved operational efficiency, and lower operating costs. Consumers enjoy the convenience of hands-free payment, the ability to pay for multiple services using one device, and the security of not having to display a card for payment.
[Scott Loftesness]

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 01:46:46 GMT

Laptops Win Over the Skeptics, Even in Maine. Just six months after Maine began providing laptop computers, educators are impressed by how quickly students and teachers have adapted to laptop technology. By Sarah Mahoney. [New York Times: Technology]

Wed, 26 Feb 2003 00:06:15 GMT

Integration key to moving IM into the enterprise. As instant messaging use accelerates in the workplace, corporations need to understand how best to integrate IM with their existing IT infrastructure. [Computerworld News]

IM has identity crisis, Microsoft says [InfoWorld: Top News]

IT managers must control instant messaging [InfoWorld: Top News]

memo to self: anticipate the unintended

Mon, 24 Feb 2003 11:17:02 GMT

Promise of intelligent networks. Homes could soon be studded with small, smart wireless relays that shuffle data around at very high speeds. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

Mr Witteman said work still had to be done on security for mesh networks to ensure that data only passed through trusted devices rather than just any that happen to be available.

Mon, 24 Feb 2003 11:11:05 GMT

Tech for Elders Must Have Purpose. Researchers developing new gadgets for older folks say the more useful and familiar devices and technologies are, the quicker seniors will warm up to them. By Mark Baard. [Wired News]

Sun, 23 Feb 2003 13:34:30 GMT

Do you own your email? This is a long, yet readable, lawblog entry of someone who found their email forwarded without their consent. Once you create digital content, do you implicitly control it, or can anyone who sees it reuse it and recopy it in any way they wish? Towards the bottom he draws parallels with the music industry... we've got the same issues with site design, applet design, any type of delivered code. For Rich Internet Applications some of the guts remain on your own server, but then we've got reuse of web services to think about as well....
[posted by John Dowdell at Macromedia MX, 2/21/2003]

Sun, 23 Feb 2003 13:16:03 GMT

Smart Lawns
The imminent arrival of the artificially-intelligent lawn. Yet more evidence that the future is here already, it's just not evenly distributed.

Gizmodo: Wireless sprinkler system : Possibly the weirdest use of wireless technology yet is a new wireless sprinkler system that's coming out in May from a company called Digital Sun. The X.Sense creates a wireless mesh network using moisture sensors strategically inserted into your lawn that keeps track of when and how much to water. Best of all, the wireless network is encrypted, lest anyone try to hack your sprinkler system.

[Brad DeLong, February 21, 2003 01:06 PM]

Sun, 23 Feb 2003 01:46:15 GMT

John Naughton: The genius of blogging. Business: The traditional media may be baffled, and even alarmed, by the blogging phenemenon. But Google's latest acquisition will make it even more difficult to ignore, says John Naughton. [Guardian Unlimited]

Sat, 22 Feb 2003 15:13:59 GMT

"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three." Alice Kahn. [Quotes of the Day]