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  • MoveIdiot: Use the Web to Manage Your Move, Track Your Stuff

    The Internet is becoming more and more a part of the world around us: our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities.

    Services such as BuildingBulletin and Neighborgoods allow us to be efficient and productive neighbors and homeowners. A new service we just found takes that one step further, allowing users to put their entire moving process online. Using online tools to streamline real-world processes is nothing new, but we think MoveIdiot is a particularly useful application.

    Sponsor

    The app is a free web-based service set to launch this month. It allows users to manage their moving experience from a central location online. Users can track boxes, manage budgets, keep track of their belongings and manage to-do lists.

    With its pre-made moving checklists, MoveIdiot reminds users of every imaginable circumstance, need or errand, such as notifying one’s doctor or bank of a move, changing one’s address with the DMV or even planning a farewell party.

    MoveIdiot further allows users to track their moving budget, with fields for each expenditure and category, such as travel, hotels and rentals.

    Finally, one of the most interesting aspects of MoveIdiot (and one that, if enhanced, we’d actually pay for) is the ability to track one’s belongings. The site lets users upload and organize data on all their possessions, so users know exactly where each item is packed. MoveIdiot has pre-fabricated lists of common household goods, and users can also input items themselves. The app allows users to print the packing details as well as box labels.

    Then, MoveIdiot’s box tracking feature lets users upload or e-mail tracking information from multiple shipping companies and then view real-time updates on an interactive map. If this feature also included RFID tags from MoveIdiot itself, that would provide an interesting value add for users making cross-town moves, as well, or using moving companies that don’t have thorough tracking systems.

    According to MoveIdiot, tens of millions of people move each year. The MoveIdiot application provides these folks with a central and intuitive application for managing this process. It speaks to the growing trend of using online and mobile tools to manage, simplify and expedite one’s day-to-day life.

    And with the right mix of features, such as the aforementioned RFID tags and a good mobile suite, we can see a freemium model going over very well. We also wonder if MoveIdiot has considered enterprise applications for corporate moves or the same kind of labeling and tracking for items in storage.

    What do you think, friends? Would you use a free web app to help manage your next move? And what features do you think would be worth paying for for such an application? Let us know what you think in the comments.

    Discuss


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  • Rudolf Schenker e a nova Volkswagen Amarok agitam o Rally Dakar

    Picape Amarok - Scorpions
    Durante o Rally Dakar, a Volkswagen Veículos Comerciais recebeu no sábado, (9/1) uma visita importante na cidade chilena de Antofagasta: Rudolf Schenker, fundador da Banda Hardrock alemã “The Scorpions“, que fez um test-drive com a nova Volkswagen Amarok durante a corrida no deserto. O parecer profissional da estrela do rock sobre a pick-up: “Simplesmente fantástica”.

    O guitarrista estava especialmente impressionado pelo baixo consumo deste veículo robusto. A Volkswagen Amarok consome apenas 7,8 litros de diesel em 100 quilômetros, ou seja, 12,8 km por litro.

    “Para mim é uma grande aventura, sempre achei o Rally Dakar emocionante, mas nunca havia participado”, disse Schenker.

    “É impossível usar minha roupa de couro aqui”, brinca o roqueiro. Junto com o cantor dos Scorpions, Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker teve a oportunidade de, no final do ano passado, dar uma olhada exclusiva na pick-up novinha em folha na fábrica da Volkswagen Veículos Comerciais.

    O carro chega primeiro ao mercado sul-americano e estará disponível também na Alemanha no verão europeu. As estrelas logo se empolgaram com o novo produto. “A Amarok tem muito estilo e chama tanta atenção, que a gente quer mais é sentar-se ao volante e se mandar, é um veículo muito animal”, diz Rudolf Schenker. “Para mim, uma pick-up destas significa aventura, liberdade e prazer”, destaca a estrela do rock.

    “Eu iria a qualquer lugar com este carro, ele é simplesmente cool, não é presunçoso e nem exagerado, mas algo para homens de verdade”, complementa Klaus Meine.

    A história mostra que os Scorpions têm uma estreita ligação com a Volkswagen, pois após a formação do grupo em 1965, o primeiro veículo da banda foi uma Kombi. Rudolf Schenker, que acaba de publicar seu livro “Rock your Life“, se entusiasmou quando soube que a Volkswagen Amarok seria o veículo acompanhante oficial do Rally Dakar.

    Em dezembro de 2009, ele se ofereceu espontaneamente a Stephan Schaller, porta-voz da diretoria da marca da Volkswagen Veículos Comerciais, para testar a pick-up durante o dia de descanso do rally. “O meu livro trata exatamente sobre isto: ver a vida como aventura, aceitar cada desafio e ter simplesmente prazer nisto”, explica o artista sobre sua motivação.

    A Volkswagen Veículos Comerciais é o “Fornecedor Oficial” do Rally Dakar, e para o evento esportivo disponibilizará ao todo 35 Amaroks, assim como outros veículos, entre eles também a Multivan PanAmericana. Nos últimos 40 anos, a banda Scorpions lançou 22 álbuns, vendeu 80 milhões de discos e recebeu cerca de 100 discos de ouro e de platina.

    Fonte: Volkswagen


  • Detroit 2010: Cadillac XTS Platinum concept ready to replace STS/DTS?

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    Cadillac XTS Platinum concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

    For the past decade, Cadillac has been transforming itself from a brand that built big, floaty old-school luxury cars for old-school customers into something much more contemporary to compete with the best premium brands from Europe. Unfortunately for General Motors, the process has been only partially successful. The Escalade has been a huge sales success for the brand and the CTS has achieved both critical and commercial acclaim. The STS and the first generation SRX, however, never quite struck a chord with the market and the DTS is just old.

    A new SRX debuted last year, but now it’s time to flesh out the rest of the lineup. The CTS in sedan, coupe and sportwagon forms is one of Autoblog’s favorites. It’s time to spread that goodness to both a smaller and larger sedan. Last August we saw styling concepts of both those cars, dubbed the ATS and XTS during a visit to the GM design studios. GM isn’t publicly showing the 3 series-sized ATS just yet, but the XTS is debuting today at the Detroit Auto Show. The XTS Platinum concept is a preview of Cadillac’s new flagship that’s expected to start production in early 2012. Read on after the jump to learn all about it.

    Continue reading Detroit 2010: Cadillac XTS Platinum concept ready to replace STS/DTS?

    Detroit 2010: Cadillac XTS Platinum concept ready to replace STS/DTS? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • ‘Swelling Glass’ can pick and choose pollutants from water

    swelling glass

    Eco Factor: Low-cost water cleaning system based on a unique “swelling glass.”

    Researchers at the College of Wooster have developed a unique glass that swells like a sponge and can be used to clean polluted water sources. The glass binds with gasoline and other pollutants but doesn’t bind with water. This smart material has the ability to pick and choose pollutants from contaminated groundwater.

    (more…)

  • How add new songs to your iPod/iPhone using another iTunes w/out erasing old 1s on it

    Here come loads of chances for you to use a new computer or something like reformatted hard disk. For an iPod/iPhone user, it’s not so convenient though. You need to move your iTunes library to the new computer or recover the iTunes library on the reformatted hard disk if you want to add new songs to your iPod/iPhone. Here we’ll talk about how to add new songs onto an iPod/iPhone on a new /reformatted computer while keeping all songs on your Pod.
    Step 1: Download and install iTunes on the new/reformatted computer

    Step 2: Open iTunes and add new songs to iTunes

    Step 3: Plug your iPod/iPhone and turn off the auto sync in case that automatically synchronization will erase the content on iPod
    How to turn off the auto sync:
    (1), Launch iTunes
    (2),go to the menu “edit”–> "preferences” on iTunes menu
    (3),go to "devices” and select "disable auto sync for iPhone and iPod” and then go to "ok"

    Step 4:Download and install Aniosoft iBackup
    (http://www.aniosoft.com/aniosoft-ipo…-transfer.html) and it will detect songs on your iPod/iPhone automatically

    Step 5: Transfer all the content from iPod/iPhone to iTunes with Aniosoft iBackup and then iPod’s original songs are together with new songs on the newly installed iTunes

    Step 6: Sync your iPod/iPhone to iTunes where both new songs and iPod/iPhone’s songs are currently included

  • Livescribe lures developers to make apps for “pen-computing”

    LivescribeIf you haven’t yet heard of the Livescribe Pulse smartpen, it’s a pen that both electronically saves everything you write and draw and records sound, such as a lecture or a business meeting. You can save what you’ve jotted down to your computer. And if you later touch the pen to your written notes, any audio recorded at the time you worte it will be played back for you. Pretty nifty technology, but what else can it do?

    Plenty, say Livescribe’s executives who are rapidly building a developer community around the device. Close to 6,500 developers have registered and downloaded a Java-based software development kit to start creating apps. And Wednesday night, Jan. 13, Livescribe is hosting a global developer conference to enlist more developers and to tout the platform.

    People can attend the conference at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., or view a Web cast of it at www.livescribe.com. Cash prizes will be awarded March 7 for the best apps developed for the Pulse. The company has invited developers to upload 30-to 90-second videos demonstrating how their apps work.

    Livescribe has recently loaded two applications onto the Pulse to whet the appetite of other developers, said Jim Marggraff, founder and chief executive officer. One is a translation app that lets the user to, for example, write the word “please” on a piece of paper, set the pen to translate to Spanish and hear the words “por favor” come from the pen’s speaker and see them spelled out on a display screen. With the other app, the user draws the lines for sheet music on the page and fills in notes for the keys of A, B, C, etc. The pen’s built-in camera recognizes where the notes are on the paper and plays those notes through the speaker.

    “People started to play with it and they say, ‘There’s some cool stuff here,’” said Marggraff, who calls the platform pen-based computing. “This is where it’s going now with a set of applications that are only the beginning of a multidimensional [number] of apps that we’re creating.”

    Livescribe, based in Oakland, introduced the first Pulse smartpen in 2008 and now offers two models, one with 2 gigabytes of storage for $169 and another with 4 gigabytes for $199. Just like any computer it has inputs and outputs, he said. A camera mounted at the pen point and a microphone are the inputs. The speaker, display screen and a USB connector to a computer are the outputs.

    The Livescribe application store currently has about 30 apps available, a mix of free and for sale products. Livescribe gets 35 percent of the sales revenue while the developer gets the rest.

    Despite the niche nature of the Livescribe Pulse, it’s attracting a diverse group of developers, said Byron Connell, chief marketing officer. According to a recent survey of Livescribe developers, 70 percent have experience writing Windows PC-based applications and another 30 percent have written smartphone apps, primarily for the Apple iPhone and iPod devices. Some game developers have also joined the Livescribe community. While about 40 percent of them plan to develop consumer apps, another 18 percent are targeting the education market and 14 percent the enterprise market.

    The Pulse works with specially printed paper, called “dot paper,” with navigational icons preprinted on it, such as the “pause,” “play” and “stop” functions for the audio recorder. The device recognizes the keys on a preprinted image of a calculator and performs the calculations. One of the present applications allows a user to print their own dot paper on their own printer.


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  • Sugar-powered phone concept robs us of perfectly good Coke

    This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a sugar fuel cell, but gosh darnit, it just might be the sexiest. Chinese designer Daizi Zheng has conjured up a vision for a soft drink-powered cylindrical Nokia of the future that pounds Coca-Colas to stay juiced: just screw off the top, pop the can, and pour. Daizi estimates that that a single can of the stuff could outlast a traditional lithium ion battery by three to four times — never mind the obvious ecological benefits — but don’t you dare steal our caffeine the next time you need a charge, alright?

    [Thanks, Rob]

    Sugar-powered phone concept robs us of perfectly good Coke originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink FuelCellsWorks, TreeHugger, Dezeen  |  sourceDaizi Zheng  | Email this | Comments

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  • Most scenic TTC routes?

    I’ve taken a lot of TTC routes and found that some of the areas that these buses and streetcars pass is very beautiful. Here are some TTC routes I can think of:

    501 Queen

    From Long Branch to The Beaches, you see a lot of things. Lake Ontario, the extravagant condos near the Humber Bay, Trinity Bellwoods, Queen West, downtown, Leslieville and The Beaches. I haven’t done the ride from one end of the streetcar route to the other yet, but it looks fun.

    91F Woodbine

    I was on this today because the Bloor-Danforth was experiencing delays. Most of the route is around creeks and rivers, and when the bus reaches York Mills, you get a nice view of the DVP.

    504 King

    Most of this streetcar route is downtown, but the view along Broadview and approaching Roncesvalles from the east is nice.

    510 Spadina

    You go through the western boundary of U of T, Chinatown, Queen west, Rogers’ Centre, CN Tower, Rail lands and the Harbourfront.

    Any other TTC routes that provide eye candy to the TTC rider?

  • Writing with Children & Creating Books

     

    Writing Image: sxc.hu

    Writing Image: sxc.hu

    My substitute teaching takes me into many classrooms to teach many subjects.

      This year one of the second grade teachers has been out due to illness, so I’ve subbed for her quite a bit.  I’ve been having a delightful time writing with these youngsters.

    Now when they see me in the classroom, the students ask if they can write books that day.  The first day I subbed, the teacher had a booklet project in which the youngsters wrote and drew pictures about the weather, after we’d watched a video and I read a book.  (Weather was their science topic for several weeks.)  The next couple of days, many wanted to make more weather books.  I also wrote weather poems with them.

    Now when they want to write and illustrate booklets, I check to see what topics we’re studying.  Then, when their other work is finished, they can make books or write poems about it. This week they were contrasting and comparing country and town living in Social Studies, so they made booklets related to this.  It’s exciting for me, as a children’s author, to see such enthusiasm about writing books. 

    So…with your own children.  If you need something for them to do, choose a topic and see what they can do with making a book.  I only use two pieces of 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper folded over and stapled.  That way the book isn’t too long and won’t become a discouraging project, especially for second graders.   You can add folded colored paper for the cover and back, if you desire.

    At my blog for teachers, homeschooling parents and parents, Mary Emma’s Learning Activities for Tots & Teens, I’ll be posting more writing and reading related activities.

    Post from: Blisstree

    Writing with Children & Creating Books

  • Asus Core i7 Laptop Claims 12-Hour Battery Life [Laptops]

    The fastest laptops usually get lousy battery life, but Asus has made a few innovations that supposedly net its memorably named UL80JT laptop an incredible 12 hours of battery life, despite its Core i7 processor. I really hope it’s true.

    The big change here is a real-time management system that re-clocks the processor on a moment-to-moment basis depending on what you’re doing, which means light work should result in light power usage. That’s how it can hit 12 hours of battery life despite the Core i7 and its Nvidia GeForce 310 GPU. We haven’t been able to test it yet, since it was just announced at CES, but here’s hoping the claims are anywhere near true. [Ars Technica]







  • Modern Raised Pet Feeders from a Company with a Conscience

    Scissal Feeder

    UK-based Scissal created these beautiful raised feeders with sensitivity toward how they are manufactured. The company founders felt strongly that quality pet products should not be manufactured in countries with poor animal welfare records. Therefore, these feeders are designed and manufactured in the UK. Makes sense, why should a country benefit from pet product manufacturing revenues when that country doesn’t treat its own animals humanely.

    Scissal Feeder

    The Scissal feeders are made from sturdy acrylic with removable stainless steel bowls. Choose from freestanding or wall-mounted feeders in a variety of colors. Both single and double feeders are available ranging from 59.00 to 182.00 Euros. Looks like they only ship to the EU for now.

    via ohmycat.fr


  • Mochi Media Acquired By Shanda Games For $80 Million

    Mochi Media, a Flash game advertising network and payments platform funded by Accel Partners and Shasta Ventures, has been acquired by Shanda Games for $60 million in cash and $20 million in equity. The company has raised $14 million over two venture rounds.

    The deal will be announced shortly.

    Shanda is China’s largest operator of online games, with nearly 10 million active accounts. The company hosts so-called MMORPGs, or massively multi-player online role-playing games, under which users pay monthly subscriber fees as well as purchase items within the game. The company went public on NASDAQ late last year and has the enviable ticker symbol GAME.

    As of June 2009 100 million people were playing games that included Mochi Media. They also launched a payments platform for game developers last year.

    The company was close to being acquired last year, but an internal battle between the founders and investors led to a scrapping of that deal. Shortly afterwards the hired executive team left to other ventures. And the Mochi Media founders took over management of the company again.

    Shanda also acquired Goldcool Games earlier this month, a Shanghai-based online game developer and operator. Goldcool Games currently operates two MMORPGs, “Hades Realm” and “Dukes and Lords.” The company also has several MMORPGs in the pipeline, including “Dragon Heir,” “Zodiac Tales,” “Martial Glory” and “Hades Realm II.”

    Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors


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  • 2010 SSC South Korea New Project by Korea2002

    Supertall(300m 이상)
    SEOUL | Green Gateway Center | 600m | 114 fl | App

    Skyscraper(200~300m)
    INCHEON | Songdo OK(Overseas Korean) Center | 260m | 72 fl | PREP
    INCHEON | Yeonsei Songdo Global Academy Campus Complex(M1,M2부지) | 250m | 66 fl | App
    INCHEON | Dohwa SK Leader’s view(인천 도화구역 도시재생사업) | 72 fl | App
    CHEONAN | Cheonan Theme Park Town Complex | 216m | 57 fl | App-천안복합테마파크타운 조성사업
    CHEONAN | Herumeka Business Town | 290m | 65 fl | App-천안국제비즈니스파크 조성사업-대우건설 컨소시엄
    BUSAN | Gwangan Nine Star | 59 fl | App(대림산업 계열사 삼호 광안리 초고층 주상복합 개발 프로젝트-지상 59층 3개동)
    ANSAN | Ansan Star Dome city(안산 돔구장 도시개발사업-화랑역세권) | 230m | 62 fl | App
    INCHEON | Songdo Global Campus Prugio(송도 사이언스빌리지 RM1블럭) | 230m | 46 fl | PREP
    GURI | New World Design Trade Center(구리 월드디자인무역센터 조성계획-토평동) | 70 fl | App
    GURI | Guri New Town Land(구리뉴타운-수택,인창 재정비촉진지구 랜드마크 조성계획) | 60 fl | App
    highrise(100m~200m)
    BUSAN | Lamuette Condominium | 165m | 42 fl | PREP
    BUSAN | Centum Square | 131m | 38 fl | PREP
    INCHEON | Cheongna Lotte Castle Premium Town | 170m | 50 fl | U/C
    INCHEON | Songdo International Business Square | 155m | 35 fl | U/C
    INCHEON | Songdo I-Tower | 33 fl | App
    INCHEON | Songdo Prugio Harbour view 2(송도 D17-1,D18블럭) | App
    INCHEON | Songdo Posco The # Harbour view 2 | 160m | 38 fl | U/C
    BORYEONG | Mud International Resort | 46 fl | App
    GUNSAN | SGFEZ International Hotel | 47 fl | App
    INCHEON | Songdo Posco the # Canal Street | 160m | 35 fl | App
    INCHEON | Songdo Science Village Auto Vision Tower | 130m | 30 fl | PREP
    SEOUL | Urban Trachia(서울역 북부역세권 개발사업) | 34 fl | App
    SEOUL | Yongsan Samsung Trapalace | 150m | 40 fl | PREP
    INCHEON | Songdo Global Campus Prugio 230m | 45 fl | App
    INCHEON | Cheongna Prugio | 180m | 58 fl | PREP-청라국제업무타운 A8블럭
    MOKPO | Mokpo Tower Residence 120m | 31 fl | App -목포 중앙공설시장 재건축사업-주상복합-목포타워 휴먼시아 건설
    SEOUL | Asterium Seoul Twin Park | 150m | 35 fl | PREP
    INCHEON | Cheongna Lynn Straus | 180m | 42 fl | PREP
    SEOUL | Seocho Lotte Town | 46 fl | App
    청라 반도유보라 주상복합(청라 M1블럭)-Cheongna U-Bora Tower -59 Floor
    부산-해운대 AID 주공 재건축사업-해운대 힐스테이트 & 위브-Haeundae Hillstate & We’ve
    서울숲 두산위브더제니스-지상 48층,높이 162m 주상복합 건설-2010년 6월 착공.
    Majestower Gaegeum(개금 진흥마제스타워)-지상 37층 4개동 ,2010년 상반기 분양
    2010년 6월 착공-센텀시티 KNN 신사옥-지상 28층

    General Development(100m 이하 빌딩 소규모개발)
    INCHEON | IFEZ Arts Center | PREP
    INCHEON | Songdo Global Academy Campus Town | U/C
    SEOUL | Seoul Performing Arts Center | App
    INCHEON | Asian Game 2014(경기장) | App-Stadium Arena Page로 이동가능성!
    INCHEON | Kyeongin Canal Way(경인운하) | U/C
    SEOUL | 고척동 하프돔구장(Seoul Municipal Half Dome Stadium) | PREP-Stadium arena page로 이동가능성!
    INCHEON | Songdo Bio Research Complex | PREP
    INCHEON | Songdo Aerospace City Complex(송도 11공구 개발사업) | App
    SUWON | Hyundai I’Park City | PREP
    INCHEON | Fiera Incheon Complex | App
    MASAN | Robotland | App-마산 로봇랜드 조성사업
    SEOUL | Digital Media City | U/C
    JEJU | MGM Jeju Resort | App
    SUWON | Gwanggyo New City| U/C(광교신도시)
    INCHEON | Incheon Bridge Phase 2(영종-강화 연륙교 개발사업-인천경제자유구역 확대조성특구) | App
    SEONGNAM | Alpha Dome City | PREP
    BUSAN | BEXCO Phase 2 Development(제2벡스코 시설확충사업,오디토리움 개발) | PREP
    SEOUL | Green Hills(서울 한남뉴타운 마스터플랜 개발) | App
    SEOUL | Garak Green Business Park(가락 농수산시장 현대화사업) | App
    청라국제업무단지 투자용지 4BL-Incheon Holly Land Cheongna Theme Park Development(홀리랜드 청라 테마파크 건설)-App
    General Development-송도 국제병원(Johns & Hopkins Medical University-Seoul National University MOU) 건립사업-App
    부산 센텀시티 다이아몬드 타워(Busan Centum city Diamond B/D Tower)

    City/Metro Compilation(광역지자체,구역별)
    BUSAN | Central Bay(부산북항재개발 사업) | PREP
    INCHEON | Cheongna Crystal City(청라지구 개발사업) | U/C
    INCHEON | Songdo International Business District(Songdo IBD) | U/C
    INCHEON | Songdo Techno Park | U/C(songdo 5,7 district)
    INCHEON | Songdo Landmark City | PREP(Songdo 6,8 district)
    INCHEON | Incheon International Harbour | PREP(Songdo 10 district-인천신항 개발사업)
    INCHEON | The One City | Pro (용유무의관광단지-인천경제자유구역 개발사업)
    INCHEON | Songdo Harbour city | PREP(Songdo 9 district)
    INCHEON | Yeongjong Sky city | PREP(영종지구 개발사업-영종하늘도시)-인천경제자유구역 개발사업(IFEZ’s Try port Development)
    SEOUL | Digital Media City | U/C
    SUWON | Gwanggyo New City| U/C(광교신도시)
    INCHEON | Incheon Free Economic Zone(IFEZ) Development News | U/C

  • Are IT Failures Costing $6.2 Trillion Per Year?

    Sun / Intel This post is part of the IT Innovation series, sponsored by Sun & Intel. Read more at ITInnovation.com.
    Of course, the content of this post consists entirely of the thoughts and opinions of the author.

    I’m always quite skeptical about huge numbers that come out of studies, such as the “losses” claimed by the entertainment industry due to piracy. So I was pretty skeptical of a story (found via Slashdot) claiming that IT failures cost $6.2 trillion per year worldwide. If true, that would be a staggering figure. I have no doubt that IT “failures” are costly, but that number seems extreme. Just glancing over the report itself, it’s definitely not based on any kind of stringent methodology, and seems to count any IT project failure as a total loss, and then adds in “indirect costs” which sound suspiciously like “ripple effects” which, as we’ve demonstrated before are actually ways to double- or triple-count the same dollars over and over again. It seems that many others see huge problems with the original report as well, even to the point of suggesting that its orders of magnitude off.

    While the debate rages on over how to properly count the “cost” of such failures, I’m beginning to wonder how useful such a number is. Isn’t a more useful discussion on how to prevent or minimize the impact of any such failures? The aggregate number may look good in being able to see some big number, but aggregate numbers can hide important details inside. For example, back in the early (and even late) 90s there were lots of reports about how computerizing your business was not shown to have added any productivity. A poor conclusion from this was that computering your business was not a smart idea. But the problem was that this was aggregate data. It failed to realize that many, many businesses had boosted productivity through the use of computers, and many of the large failures that wiped out the aggregate “gains” were from a few big businesses that did a really poor implementation. It didn’t mean that computerizing was necessarily a bad idea, but that some of the biggest early players just did a bad job of it.

    So, if we’re going to be discussing IT failures, why not step away from that aggregate info and try to focus in on ways to actually minimize the impact of whatever IT failures might occur?

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  • new year new wip

    a few closeups of a recent model. any guesses what it is? The model is about 95% there, I’d like to dirty up the textures a lot more for the final images.

  • Adobe escalates green efforts, installs 20 Windspire wind turbines

    adobe winspire wind turbines_1

    Eco Factor: Adobe installs wind turbines for renewable energy at its headquarters.

    Adobe’s San Jose headquarters includes three office towers that have received three LEED Platinum certifications. The company’s green efforts have reduced its indoor water use by 22%, landscape water use by 76%, electricity use by 35% and natural gas by 41%. The company is now trying to even better its green credentials by installing 20 Windspire vertical axis wind turbines to provide renewable energy.

    (more…)

  • Somalia signs currency printing agreement with Sudan

    Somalia signs currency printing agreement with Sudan

    Tuesday 12 January 2010 06:21.
    Printer-Friendly version Comments…
    January 11, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – A batch of new Somali currency will be printed in Sudan following an agreement signed in Khartoum today, Sudan state media reported.

    The Managing Director of Sudan’s Currency Printing office Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Bahi signed for Sudan Government while the Somali Finance Minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh signed for his government.

    The cost of the printing process will top $17 million, SUNA reported

    The Sudanese minister of Finance and national economy Awad Al-Jaz and the governor of Sudan’s Central Bank Saber Mohammed Al- Hassan were present at the ceremony.

    Al-Jaz noted the “historical relations” between the two countries adding that the printing of the currency can contribute in realizing stability and development in Somalia. He said that Sudan’s experience in as a country emerging from conflict can be a good experience for Somalia.

    The Somali minister hailed Sudan’s efforts in achieving peace saying that the presence of legal currency would contribute positively to the economy.

    Somalia has been seeking Sudan’s help in rebuilding its government’s institution and security forces in a bid to assert control over the lawless country. The issue of currency was discussed during the visit of Sharif Hassan to Sudan last year.

    Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years. Regional and international efforts to install one have so far been undermined with rampant insecurity fueled by Al-Shabab Islamic insurgency.

    (ST)

  • feature: Here’s to the crazy ones: a decade of Mac OS X reviews




    The latter half of the 1990s was a dark time for the company then known as Apple Computer, Inc. Windows 95 had dashed any remaining hopes of mass-market desktop dominance for Apple. The big profits of the earlier part of the decade had given way to some huge annual losses. The future of the entire company was in doubt.

    Like injured animals, corporations are adept at hiding the true magnitude of their injuries. As grim as things appeared from the outside, few Apple enthusiasts knew at the time just how close the company came to fiscal ruin. But the software picture was always crystal-clear—clear, and terrifying.

    Read the rest of this article...


    Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

    Article

  • News, Double transplant for type 1 diabetes brings troubles, gifts.

    Ten years ago Tuesday, USA TODAY’s Scott Bowles had a kidney and pancreas transplant to treat his juvenile diabetes. He kept a journal of the experience, which ran as a series in the newspaper and in his book, The Needle and the Damage Done. Bowles, 44, a film reporter in Los Angeles, looks back at the decade and life after the surgery.

    Double transplant for type 1 diabetes brings troubles, gifts – USATODAY.com

  • BOOK REVIEW: Warren Buffett on Business

    What is better than reading a book about Warren Buffett but a book by Warrren Buffett himself. Warren Buffett on Business: Principles from the Sage of Omaha, by Richard J. Connors is the new book containing excerpts of annual letters from Warren Buffett himself to his Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

    I am a Buffett devotee, and I was caught from the first word but there is stuff there for every investor to read and most importantly to learn from.

    Amongst his various witty anecdotes and cute quotes, is advice about ethics, morals, managing businesses, investing in companies long term and stressing the ability of everyone to strive by hard work, invest early and in the right way, eventually, and of course in the long term it will pay off for you.

    Buffett’s words and advice are easy to follow and are not cluttered with the usual business or financial gobbledygook that other financial books usually contain.

    The excerpts compiled by Connors are memorable and highly readable but there is some serious repetition there of the same stuff and even a glaring error where the same paragraph is repeated not long after the original.

    I had an advance copy so it could have been an error in the first print run.

    Having said that the book is still highly readable with classic advice for investors that Buffett has stuck to over 70 years of investing and it will never be out of fashion.

    It is by no means the best book on or by Warren Buffett but is worth buying to read and refer back to when you need to be reminded on what you might want to do when it comes to investing your hard earned moola.

    8 out of 10.

    Thanks to Adrianna Johnson from John Wiley & Sons for supplying a copy of the book to review.

    Buy the book from Amazon

    Warren Buffett on Business: Principles from the Sage of Omaha Warren Buffett on Business: Principles from the Sage of Omaha by Richard J. Connors
    Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $11.25
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