There is a post on Slate.com by Farhad Manjoo whose title tells the story – The Case Against the Case Against Google, The Department of Justice should take a hint from the Microsoft suit: no more antitrust actions against tech companies. Essentially what Farhad is arguing is that a)there is plenty of competition in the […]
Tech Sector: Monopoly Proof? Read More »
The NewScientist in its July 25,2009 issue has an essay by Dr. Terence Kealey, Falling out of love with market myths. The essay advances the argument that conservative Economic theories are derelict. These theories were barely tenable originally, have dwindled in efficacy with the emergence of huge secret/shadow and non-transparent financial markets from derivatives through
Imperfect Financial Markets Read More »
The NYTimes has done a 3 page story on Mozilla and its most important product, the Firefox browser. This story is notable for 5 reasons. First, it is about browsers and the role that browsers are playing in not just the PC but also smartphone and the broader Cloud Computing marketplaces. It also is
NYTimes Looks at Mozilla Firefox Read More »
Open Source Software has , as any who are involved know, a dual edge to the sword. It delivers great range and depth to how problems , especially in programming can be solved. But on the other hand its money making model is down right monastic. Open Sourcers in programming for example can charge a
An Approach to Open Source Read More »
Paul Krugman at the New York Times is putting out some of the best policy reviews available on the new Obama administration. And they are not limited to economic policy – although there is always that element as a strong slant. His latest foray into the Health Care Reforms really underlines the bottom line –
Health Care Reform Read More »
For a long time futurist have been predicting the transition from Mass Production to Mass Custom Production. And if one looks over the past 50 year or so products have gone well beyond Henry Ford’s “any color you want so long as it is black”. Now many products have an array of add-on features. And
Mass Self Customization Read More »
Nortel was once the biggest tech employer in Canada. It has benefited from billions of dollars in tax breaks and special funding from the Canadian government. It has fallen on hard times – and was seeking a bailout from the Canadian government. The Canadian governement said no deal. At about the same time, Chrysler and
I have been absolutely astounded by the spectacular rise in the number of Apps for the iPhone. From 2008’s launch date’s 40 apps to 5000 apps three months later and now more than 50,000 apps as of the turn of Summer 2009. Last time I saw this type of programming support and take-off was with
A Tale of Two Mobile Apps: Apple iPhone vs Palm Pre Read More »
Business Week has a slide show on 25 projects in the energy and green technology arena that reveals some very interesting developments. I had not expected so many projects so far down the new technology curve. Well worth looking through.
Business Week Slideshow on New Green Read More »
The NYTimes is featuring an article by Sarah Perez which asks so casually yet duplicitously – “Are You Over AIR Applications? “. Let me set the stage. AIR is the Adobe entry into the RAIA– Rich Anywhere Interface Applications race. AIR allows developers to deliver to users apps that combine just about any rich media
RWW’s Sarah Perez: Microsoft Hitwoman? Read More »
In his NYTimes article, the Joy of Sachs, Paul Krugman underlines one of the fundamental business problems confronting the US. Is the US Government going to continue to “invest” in the Financial Industry by not making any meaningful regulations? Is the US going to allow crowding out of other industries by not controlling Financial compensation
Doing More than Blowing Financial Bubbles Read More »
I was pleasant surprised by Baseball’s AllStar game this year. First, the dedication to Service in the Country with its honoring of volunteers in the various baseball cities across the country was carried off very well. Second, President Obama proved once again that he is as close to a Natural Born hitter than anyone around
Obama in the Allstar Booth Read More »
The following NYTimes story shows the impact that Microsoft’s newly re-relaunched search engine, Bing, is having in the search engine wars. Instead of being a hapless me-too, Bing brings real innovation and a competitive advantage in search results display to BING over Google. Here is the writing on the wall:Google’s frugal search result display under
Microsoft Bing’s Advantage Read More »
The situation is so dire on World Climate Control, the old adage about Boiling Frogs is being trotted out all over the place. You know the one – put a frog in boiling ater and hew will immediately jump out – but slow cook him by gradually raising the temperature – eh voila, delicious frogs
PBS has two distinguished and uniquely great news sources that the major networks simply cannot equal . First, there is Newsline which takes on topics and in a bold fashion that major networks have failed to match for the past 10-15 years. And Bill Moyers Journal is a source contemporary, distinguished and varied American expertise
Financial Markets: A Theologic View Read More »
The Financial Times of July 3 2009, has a most interesting article about the added Marine forces of approximately 4000 men in Helmand province. This is the biggest operation by the Marines since the Fallujah offensive in Iraq. But the approach they are taking is quite different: “As Marine units arrive in their designated towns
Marines in Helmand Read More »
The Times of London Sports Editors Simon Barnes and Neil Harman got Sunday’s Wimbledon story right. Andy Roddick was not just the ragged warrior but also the hero of the match – unfortunately, the tragic hero. For no country is quite like the US in Sports. To finish second is equivalent to finishing thirtieth or
Andy Roddick – Tragic Hero Read More »
The Financial Times of Friday, July 3 2009 has a story about how a”rogue oil broker” triggered a price spike in Oil Prices. A single trader for PVM Oil Associates in London bought 8m barrels of oil in “unauthorized trading” causing the price at $71 to spike to $73.50. That position later had to be
Oil Speculation: Proof Again Major Markets Can Be Played Read More »
The Deal.com has a story about the Nature of Financial Reform in view of the World Credit Crisis which basically argues that reform in the US is hopeless because a)the regulators become captured by the very financial markets they are supposed to control and b) competitiveness of US financial firms will be jeopardized by regulations
Deal or No Deal: The Arguments Against Any Meaningful Financial Reforms Read More »
I have said it before but it bears repeating – the best feed on who, what and why on the ongoing Financial Fiasco is Felix Salmon at Reuters. Here is a delicious post on what has been happening at Harvard University and who had his finger in the pie. More Triple AAA reading.
Reuter’s Felix Salmon – The best Financial Fiasco Feed Read More »
Update July 1, 2009: The NYTimes confirms “in I told you so” fashion that indeed Taiwanese firms like Acer are now reaching up to the heights of market dominance in innovation markets. Now one of the pillars of the Obama recovery plan is that American innovation and manufacturing prowess will be unleashed with the huge
Taiwan Takes the Lead in PC+Gadget Innovation Read More »
It is hard to understand, let alone cope with, the kid glove treatment that the Financial community is getting from the Obama Financial team. Consider now that the population not just of the United State but the Whole World is suffering one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression. Also an even worse Depression
Obama’s Failing Financial Reform Grades Read More »
Judge Denny Chin certainly got the sentencing right – Madoff’s crimes and motives were certainly heinous – almost like a serial financial murderer of no remorse. But there are still notable problems. In the past 3 years, there have been other monumental Financial misdeeds – and most of the perpertrators have gotten away scott free
After the Madoff Slam Dunk Read More »
Update-June 29th, 2009:eWeek has just done a slideshow which confirms that Google is laying the ground works for several substantial revenue streams outside of the search domain. They cite the Google Wave, Google Book and Google Android as do we in our posting below. In the case of Android, Google has just added on and
THE Google Wave: New King of Software, updated Read More »
Nuclear Power has a strong lure to policymakers. It is “clean”, does not dent oil reserves, and its operating costs can be close to cost competitive as long as uranium prices don’t spike. But there are some real downside problems; and the Canadian and Ontario Governments are learning this lesson in spades. The Canadian government
Energy Innovation: A Nuclear Parable Read More »
Kobe did it alone – brought the NBA Championship to LA as the lone and prime star of the Lakers[apologies to Fisher, Arizia, Pau Gasol, etc]. But that is the exception, not the rule. Pittsburg Penguins won Ice Hockey’s Stanley Cup with three stars – Sidney Crosby, Mark Andre Fleury, and Evgenii Malkin. The year
Obama Contrarian 2: Going It Alone Read More »
The question confronting the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and its financial regulators is whether too much of the Financial Community has gone over to the Dark Side. This notion has two possible interpretations. Information Dark Side – The first idea posits that financial institutions have now become dependent on having corners on the
Has Too Much of the Financial Community Gone Over to the Dark Side ? Read More »
Boomsday by Christopher Buckley is a purported satire on Washington DC and American elites – politicians, budding bureaucrats, lobbyists, PR spin doctors, Ivy league faculty, press-flak flunkees, business tycoons and the outlandish things they will say and do to get ahead – where “ahead” clusters somewhere between the power to humiliate without peer and wealth
Boomsday as Faction Read More »
There is a consensus that Financial Reforms in the US are necessary and various Obama administration officials including SEC Chairman Shapiro, Treasury Secretary Geithner and the President himself have acknowledged the need. Certainly the US and the rest of the world can ill-afford another “financial bubble” exploding in the next 5-10 years. Simply the ability
US Financial Reform Options Read More »
In the previous posting, the notion that the Obama Admin is seriously caving in on Financial Reforms has been advanced. An RTP – Required To Prove series of references is needed. Here they are: DealScape – Says WSJ is fleshing out a story that shows real financial structural reform is out NYTimes+Deal.com – discussion of
RTP: Financial Kid Glove Treatment by Obama Admin Read More »
President Obama is being touted for a)eliciting opinions from all players in the policy room and b)allowing (if not encouraging) contrarian opinions in policy debates. This is what the Obama Contrarian series of postings will be about. This first posting is about the kid glove treatment the Financial Community appears to be getting from the
Obama Contrarian: Financial Kid Glove Treatment Read More »
Business Week has four excellent articles about the current economic trends that indicate the US Economy and Recovery could take a big fall in June: Oil Prices Resist the Worlds Recession – why oil prices will lead stagflation June 1st update:oil prices are up 6% from when this was written Why a GM Bankruptcy Would
Why Markets May Take a Big Fall in June Read More »
