Thursday, November 13, 2008

Charter for Compassion

TED launched a new site called CharterForCompassion inspired by world events and a universal recognition of the power of the Golden Rule.

I invite you to take a moment to be inspired by this creative video and share your own story of compassion.





Thank you

Mark

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Newly discovered Aurora

by Mark Hewitt

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has beamed back a discovery unlike anything we have seen before. One of the infrared cameras aboard the spacecraft shows a unique aurora lighting up the Polar Cap of Saturn.

Credit NASA Photo

Unlike Jupiter or Earth Aurora's this covers a massive level of the cap.

Here is a great recap of the discovery written by Nancy Atkinson of Universe Today.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Perspective

I came across this story on the Fourth Corner site and though it deserved a moment to share....

An Amusing Story

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.

The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, "only a little while." The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 or 20 years."

"But what then, senor?"

The American laughed and said, "that’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions, senor? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Cloud

by Mark Hewitt

We have all been talking about the evolution of computing into a almost ubiquitous Cloud, we call Cloud Computing. Already Google and Amazon have delivered early versions of enabling systems and now web based services LinkedIN and Salesforce are maturing their offerings that include early examples of how "The Cloud" improves our lives and increases the value of services and applications.

Microsoft has announced their Azure Services Platform designed to allow developers early access to what looks like a replacement for Vista, a smart move by Microsoft that I remind our readers maintains over 85% of overall market share.

I see these products as an indicator of just how applications will mature into products and services that add value to our lives.