Monday, September 19, 2011

What do Subcommittees Think?

Interesting(?) line up at Ben Quayle's next hearing...

Two EMC companies, a Microsoft and the GSA on Cloud Computing. Two Dr(s) and two Mr(s) in front a room of JDs (lawyers) talking about current wave of tech.

In all fairness, it should be noted that Capellas in addition to being CEO of VCE is also the chair of TechAmerica and the other Mr (David McClure) has been front and center in fedearl Cloud adoption & cost.

I can guess what they will say. It is the doctors who might add some interest to the event. I suspect that Nick Combs of EMC will make a product-like pitch. But Dan Reed of MSFT tends to be higher level and aspirational. He is one of the handful of very interesting technologists Craig Mundie brought on several years ago. They need to start delivering on something more interesting that "To the Cloud" soon.



Mr. Michael Capellas, Virtual Computing Environment Company

Dr. Dan Reed, Corporate Vice President, Technology Policy Group, Microsoft Corporation

Mr. Nick Combs, Federal Chief Technology Officer, EMC Corporation

Dr. David McClure, Associate Administrator, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, General Services Administration


http://science.house.gov/hearing/technology-and-innovation-subcommittee-hearing-cloud-computing

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Before Pandora...

Life in a cube is not one of quiet contemplation. It isn't one of privacy or focus.

I have an excellent set of in-ear isolation headphones. They don't help me get work done, but they do help me ignore others. I listen to Pandora mostly. I accept the advertising as a consequence of the pleasant surprises that sneak into my ear.

Feist's cover of the Beatles was perfect for avoiding sending that nasty email to a colleague on why the were (once again) failing to make my job easier.

Lately, I've been streaming other music on my iPhone (over Wifi) when I work out in the gym. It reinforced how little I care about the computer I use. I only care about the services that I can access.

Windows 8 is chasing the iPad/iPhone like Android is. Frankly, I know Android is better at some activities than my iPad or iPhone. There is nothing stopping Windows8 from being better than both at some tasks - so long as it remains open to also serve all the services I expect.

Could I become a Windows user again? I certainly don't want to go back any Windows that looks or acts like they did. All it has to be is a version of Windows that makes me forget that Windows ME, Clippy & Bob ever existed.

Maybe they should start with a new name?

Monday, January 24, 2011

Trying something new

My job(s) have evolved. I'm further from the tech these days & spending more time on purchasing behaviour, perception and reach. I'm also going to evolve this blog.

I tend to use Mondays to plan the week & check on progress toward strategic goals. That includes course correction on those goals. In that spirit, I also use Mondays to read material not exactly in my space. Here are my Monday factiods:

The economic impact of the "Office Lady" is global.

In Asia, the young, employed, stay-at-home female not only spends, but drives brand awareness - the alpha geek of fashinistas
http://bit.ly/ef30oy
Yet, Japan still has the largest gender gap in salaries.

In the US, young women out earn young men.
http://bit.ly/eXAsH5
And, despite some great women leaders, female CEOs are rare enough to make news

Men claim to be the primary grocery shopper
Ad Age reports that 51% of men claim to be the primary grocery shopper. And are more brand aware.

B2B marketing increasing is online
From email to virtual events to social media everyone is spending more online. This includes an increased investment in Social Media - mostly for "Brand Building". In other words, the impact of social media is something that can not be directly measured.
They also plan to hire.
http://bit.ly/h4P851

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Acceleration market is alive...

AMD's Fusion finally saw the light of day and it's getting awards. How this translates into better computing, more horsepower and better programming models is still to be seen.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/ces-2011-amds-fusion-apus-arrive-in-new-laptops/4656

With this hardware actually in the wild, I'm looking forward to hearing about students, professors and researchers actually programming something on it. If it only saves power, it is a sound silicon design. It's industry impact will be dependant upon simplified programming and more effective computing.
I haven't seen that demo-ed anywhere yet. Have you?


Meanwhile, the world sees a need to speed up math. Those GHz aren't getting any faster, are they?
http://www.hpcwire.com/features/Egyptian-Startup-Accelerates-High-Performance-Accounting-113319679.html