News Analysis: Microsoft will compound the risks surrounding the development of Windows 8 by making the wrong assumptions about global cloud adoption in a world still tied to XP. – When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told an
audience at the Gartner Symposium / IT Expo that the companys riskiest
bet was the next version of Windows, he caused a great deal of
consternation – especially since he declined to elaborate.
Former chief architect Ray Ozzie, a couple of days after leavi…
Twitter is rising in popularity – seemingly every day. People are tweeting 50 million times a day – 600 per second. And its not just teenagers tweeting about Justin Bieber. Plugging into a real-time idea stream and joining the conversation–can help companies in numerous ways. From market research to corporate image to customer service, Twitter is a powerful business tool.
– Video Content.
Long the stuff of science fiction, speaker-independent voice recognition is now an everyday feature of telephone-based customer service, and an increasingly-important and vital user interface mode for smartphones and mobile devices. Now, high-profile research programs, such as IBM’s Watson, are pushing the envelope: learning how to make machines that answer questions posed in natural language.
– Video Content.
Data theft continues to be a problem all businesses must address. Unfortunately, criminals are using ever-more sophisticated attacks. To combat todays threats, businesses must keep systems patched and updated, and employees must do their part to avoid having their systems compromised. In this video, well look at some of the new attack techniques and discuss ways to protect against them. Join host Tyler Pyburn, Ziff Davis Enterprises VP of strategic content, Eric Lundquist and strategic content editor, Sal Salamone as they dive deep into a security discussion.
– Video Content.
Recent reports suggest that the pace of adoption in enterprise cloud computing is increasing. While private cloud is still where the action is, public cloud seems to also be establishing itself as the preferred means for delivering certain classes of application. And to top it off, the majority of CIOs now see public cloud as eventually playing a part in long-term IT strategy. In this video, we’ll break down the basics and establish the difference between private and public clouds. We’ll also dive deeper into the benefits of implementing a cloud infrastructure and discuss current cloud trends in the market today. Join host Tyler Pyburn, Ziff Davis Enterprise’s VP of strategic content, Eric Lundquist and strategic content editor, John Jainshagg as they dive deep into a cloud discussion.
– Video Content.
Where do graduates end up doing unskilled work? And earning most?
ACADEMIC qualifications’ value in the workplace is a big issue for students, policymakers and taxpayers, especially as the rising numbers of students in higher education make them less distinctive. In the latest annual report on education by the OECD, a rich-country think-tank, the answer is clear: the pay-off from tertiary education is still good, both for the individual and the economy. Most graduates take jobs fitting their qualifications, earn more than non-graduates, and thus tend to pay more in taxes.
The workforce is smartening up. In the OECD 35% of the 25- to 34-year-old workforce has completed tertiary education, compared with 20% of the cohort approaching retirement. Countries such as Japan and South Korea have invested so heavily in educating their young that more than half now hold post-school qualifications. Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands are close behind. Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s chief of education research, reckons that these countries may well become more competitive as a result. …
Why expensive consultancy firms are giving away more research
IN THE run-up to the climate-change conference in Copenhagen last year, a curvy graph was passed around by policymakers and NGOs. It showed various options for cutting carbon-dioxide emissions. At one end of the chart were simple efficiency improvements which would both cut CO2 and save money; at the other end were costly technologies like nuclear power and carbon capture. Climate-watchers found the graph useful for demonstrating how many money-saving or cheap technologies there were. As one veteran put it, “We all speak McKinsey’s language now.” The graph was indeed put together not by a tree-hugging NGO, but by the for-profit consultancy.
All consulting firms seek to provide what they annoyingly call “thought leadership”. McKinsey’s rival, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), became well known in part by distributing its ideas freely. Consultancies now put out short opinionated papers as well as data-laden reports such as BCG’s recent one on wind power in China or PricewaterhouseCooper’s on electronic health records. Fiona Czerniawska of Sourceforconsulting.com says the number of such reports from the top 25 firms has quintupled since 2004. Free reports are expensive to produce: Tom Rodenhauser of Kennedy Information, a firm that monitors consultancies, reckons they cost up to 5% of gross revenues. Are they worth it? …
There was once a time that a network consisted of hardware devices to push bits of data around a network. Now, however, virtualization means that network personnel have to think differently about how networks are set up. The pace of change never ceases in the technology world, and the ultimate goal of this new technology is to make networks better and more powerful. The key thing is making sure that those who administrate the network have a clear understanding of the direction virtualization wil
Coming out of the global recession, businesses increasingly are looking to virtualize the servers that theyre buying, according to IDC. More than 18 percent of all servers shipped in the fourth quarter of 2009 were virtualized, and virtualization software licenses jumped 13 percent.
– IT departments battered by the global recession last year are
increasingly adopting a “virtualize first” mentality, according to
research firm IDC.
In a report April 28, IDC analysts said that 18.2
percent of all servers shipped in the fourth quarter of 2009 were
virtualized, an increase from 1…
One of the biggest bandwagons that has rolled through the self-help community in recent years is the so-called Law of Attraction (LoA). This claims that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Before I explain why I believe that this is not a law, not true, and not helpful, let me differentiate the LoA from some associated but different self-help concepts that actually do work.
1. Positive Thinking. There is considerable evidence that having a positive, optimistic, can-do frame of mind will lead to much better outcomes in many circumstances than having a negative, pessimistic or cynical approach. Studies show that positive thinkers generally do better, live longer, and are healthier and happier than negative thinkers.
2. Focus, Goal Setting and Planning. There are many benefits in having a clear focus on what you want to achieve, in setting goals, in measuring progress against those goals and in taking corrective actions when you fall short. Many successful people base their day on having an action plan that they work through.
3. Visualization. Visualising a successful action can assist you to achieve it. If you are nervous about making a speech then visualizing yourself giving a confident, dynamic performance will help you to do just that. Visualising a great golf swing or a good tennis backhand stroke can help supplement your training and practice.
4. Self-Belief. Most successful people have enormous self-belief. They know that they have something special to offer and that they can achieve great things. They use this self-belief as the basis on which to build the plans, improvements, learnings and actions that lead to success.
5. An Attitude of Gratitude. Most of us have a great deal to be thankful for. Counting our blessings and giving thanks help us to get our difficulties into perspective and engender a positive frame of mind.
So having listed those self-help mantras that actually work let us turn to the big idea that does not. The Law of Attraction as expounded by Bob Proctor, by Rhonda Byrne in her best-selling book, The Secret, and by her many followers claims that all you need to do is to think about the things that you want in your life and the ‘Universe’ will supply them in abundance – whether they are positive or negative.  So if you think about money you will get money; if you focus on your debts you will stay in debt.  If you think about being slim you will become slim whereas if you constantly worry about how fat you are you will stay fat.  Unfortunately for the proponents of this ‘law’ there is no scientific evidence to support it. There are plenty of anecdotes from people who believe the law worked for them but for each of these stories there are many other possible explanations.  No one has carried out a controlled experiment showing that the so-called law actually works.
Furthermore the law runs up against some very practical difficulties. What if several people all want the same promotion and think about it furiously? How can they all get the same post? The law implies that whatever difficulties you have in life are the result of you thinking the wrong thoughts. So it appears that an abused child, a rape victim or a prisoner in a concentration camp was somehow to blame because they thought negative thoughts. This is offensive to victims and flies in the face of common sense.
According to the LoA if I want to win the gold medal in the 100 metres in the next Olympic Games or become President of the USA or get Jennifer Lopez as my girlfriend then all I have to do is think about my goal and it will come to me. If we want a cure for cancer then we should stop spending money on research and just think about it instead.
The appeal of the LoA lies in its lazy proposition. You do not need hard work and discipline to lose weight or get rich – you can do it by thinking. Unfortunately this just is not true.  The LoA is delusional. It is dangerous because it misleads people into believing that imagery alone will work without action.   To succeed in life you need things like talent, diligence, persistence, skills, hard-work and maybe a little luck. You can achieve great things – but in order to do so you have to do a lot more than just think about them.
Paul Sloane is an author and speaker on leadership, innovation and lateral thinking. His most recent book is The Innovative Leader. He helps organizations improve innovation, creativity and leadership. He is the founder of Destination Innovation. He has written 15 books of lateral thinking puzzles and hosts the lateral puzzles forum.Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/PaulSloane.
One of the biggest bandwagons that has rolled through the self-help community in recent years is the so-called Law of Attraction (LoA). This claims that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Before I explain why I believe that this is not a law, not true, and not helpful, let me differentiate the LoA from some associated but different self-help concepts that actually do work.
1. Positive Thinking. There is considerable evidence that having a positive, optimistic, can-do frame of mind will lead to much better outcomes in many circumstances than having a negative, pessimistic or cynical approach. Studies show that positive thinkers generally do better, live longer, and are healthier and happier than negative thinkers.
2. Focus, Goal Setting and Planning. There are many benefits in having a clear focus on what you want to achieve, in setting goals, in measuring progress against those goals and in taking corrective actions when you fall short. Many successful people base their day on having an action plan that they work through.
3. Visualization. Visualising a successful action can assist you to achieve it. If you are nervous about making a speech then visualizing yourself giving a confident, dynamic performance will help you to do just that. Visualising a great golf swing or a good tennis backhand stroke can help supplement your training and practice.
4. Self-Belief. Most successful people have enormous self-belief. They know that they have something special to offer and that they can achieve great things. They use this self-belief as the basis on which to build the plans, improvements, learnings and actions that lead to success.
5. An Attitude of Gratitude. Most of us have a great deal to be thankful for. Counting our blessings and giving thanks help us to get our difficulties into perspective and engender a positive frame of mind.
So having listed those self-help mantras that actually work let us turn to the big idea that does not. The Law of Attraction as expounded by Bob Proctor, by Rhonda Byrne in her best-selling book, The Secret, and by her many followers claims that all you need to do is to think about the things that you want in your life and the ‘Universe’ will supply them in abundance – whether they are positive or negative.  So if you think about money you will get money; if you focus on your debts you will stay in debt.  If you think about being slim you will become slim whereas if you constantly worry about how fat you are you will stay fat.  Unfortunately for the proponents of this ‘law’ there is no scientific evidence to support it. There are plenty of anecdotes from people who believe the law worked for them but for each of these stories there are many other possible explanations.  No one has carried out a controlled experiment showing that the so-called law actually works.
Furthermore the law runs up against some very practical difficulties. What if several people all want the same promotion and think about it furiously? How can they all get the same post? The law implies that whatever difficulties you have in life are the result of you thinking the wrong thoughts. So it appears that an abused child, a rape victim or a prisoner in a concentration camp was somehow to blame because they thought negative thoughts. This is offensive to victims and flies in the face of common sense.
According to the LoA if I want to win the gold medal in the 100 metres in the next Olympic Games or become President of the USA or get Jennifer Lopez as my girlfriend then all I have to do is think about my goal and it will come to me. If we want a cure for cancer then we should stop spending money on research and just think about it instead.
The appeal of the LoA lies in its lazy proposition. You do not need hard work and discipline to lose weight or get rich – you can do it by thinking. Unfortunately this just is not true.  The LoA is delusional. It is dangerous because it misleads people into believing that imagery alone will work without action.   To succeed in life you need things like talent, diligence, persistence, skills, hard-work and maybe a little luck. You can achieve great things – but in order to do so you have to do a lot more than just think about them.
Paul Sloane is an author and speaker on leadership, innovation and lateral thinking. His most recent book is The Innovative Leader. He helps organizations improve innovation, creativity and leadership. He is the founder of Destination Innovation. He has written 15 books of lateral thinking puzzles and hosts the lateral puzzles forum.Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/PaulSloane.
Advances in brain-to-machine connections
THE possibility of operating a machine using thought control has long fascinated researchers. It would be the ultimate video-game controller, for one thing. On a more practical level, it would help disabled and paralysed people use computers, artificial limbs, motorised wheelchairs or robots. New developments in brain-to-machine interfaces show that such possibilities are getting closer.
For many years it has been possible for people to manipulate relatively simple devices—such as a computer’s on-screen cursor—by thinking about moving them. One way is by implanting electrodes into the brain to measure the electrical activity associated with certain movements. Another uses electroencephalography (EEG), which detects the same activity using electrodes placed on the scalp. In both cases, a computer learns to associate particular brain signals with intended actions. …
Brilliant thinkers are very comfortable with ambiguity – they welcome it. Routine thinkers like clarity and simplicity; they dislike ambiguity. There is a tendency in our society to reduce complex issues down to simple issues with obviously clear solutions. We see evidence of this in the tabloid press. There have been some terrible crimes committed in our cities. A violent offender received what is seen to be a lenient sentence. This shows that judges are out of touch with what is needed and that heavy punishment will stop the crime wave. The brilliant thinker is wary of simple nostrums like these. He or she knows that complex issues usually involve many causes and these may need many different and even conflicting solutions.
Routine thinkers are often dogmatic. They see a clear route forward and they want to follow it. The advantage of this is that they can make decisive and effective executives – up to a point. If the simple route happens to be a good one then they get on with the journey. The downside is that they will likely follow the most obvious idea and not consider creative, complex or controversial choices. The exceptional thinker can see many possibilities and relishes reviewing both sides of any argument. They are happy to discuss and explore multiple possibilities and are keen to challenge conventional wisdom. People around them and subordinates can sometimes consider this approach to be frustrating and indecisive.
Albert Einstein was able to conceive his theory of relativity because he thought that time and space might not be immutable. Neils Bohr made breakthroughs in physics because he was able to think of light as both a stream of particles and as a wave. Picasso could paint classical portraits and yet conceive cubist representations of people.
How can you welcome ambiguity? First by admitting that there are few absolute truths and that for most common beliefs the opposite view might also be true. If the general view is that you can either get high quality or low price the brilliant thinker will ask, ‘Why can’t we get both? How can we deliver great quality at really affordable prices?’
Cognitive dissonance is the concept of holding two very different ideas in your mind at the same time. This is something all the great composers do when they think of two melodic themes and how they can intertwine, adapt and combine them. We would find it very difficult to whistle one tune while thinking of an entirely different one but that is the sort of thing that Beethoven or Mozart would consider trifling. When we mull over the interaction of two opposing ideas in our minds then the creative possibilities are legion. A wind-up clock and an electrically operated radio are two very different concepts but by imagining their combination Trevor Bayliss was able to conceive of the clockwork radio. Most of us would dismiss such an idea out of hand. It seems incongruous to have a large mechanical winding device inside a small radio. And we can immediately see the drawback that the programme we were listening to would stop when the winder ran down so that we would have to get up and wind the thing again. That appears a very tedious operation. But Bayliss saw beyond these limitations and considered the needs of people in the developing world who did not have access to reliable mains electricity and who could not afford batteries. For them winding up a radio is a minor inconvenience. The clockwork radio has transformed their lives.
If we want creative solutions and real innovations then we should welcome ambiguity. We should explore the possibilities of two different things interacting together. We should let opposites play.
Paul Sloane is an author and speaker on leadership, innovation and lateral thinking. His most recent book is The Innovative Leader. He helps organizations improve innovation, creativity and leadership. He is the founder of Destination Innovation. He has written 15 books of lateral thinking puzzles and hosts the lateral puzzles forum.Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/PaulSloane.
MULTAN – Asking the confrontationmongers to come out of their illusions, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani reiterated on Sunday that government would not let occur any collision ‘among the institutions’ as it respected the judiciary.
“Those, who think that the clash will happen and we’ll call the army to take control of situation, are in illusions. We’ll respect the judiciary while the executive and parliament will play their constitutional role,” he added while addressing a public meeting here at district sports ground after inaugurating the construction work of different development projects launched under Prime Minister Development Package.
Holding the masses as a supreme power, he said they wanted democracy to flourish in the country and not any clash. “Therefore, no clash will take place,” he added.
He maintained that the Constitution had set the limits for all institutions and, God willing, no collision would occur and all institutions would continue to work within their set limits. He lauded the role of the army, police, public and parliamentarians, saying they all rendered tremendous sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
He resolved to respect all institutions and strengthen them in the context of 1973 Constitution. “I want to tell those who’re planning to weaken the democracy that we’ll not let the fruit of Mohtarma’s sacrifice go waste. We’ve no more chance. We’ll hold democracy firmly as we’ve paid heavily for it,” he stressed.
Declaring last general polls as historic, he said: “It was general Musharraf who claimed he would not let Benazir and Nawaz Sharif return to the country. Now see! who is in and who is out?” he posed a question. He said the people responded to Musharraf’s challenge as a result of which today he was out of country while both Mohtarma and Nawaz Sharif returned. He said Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life for the accomplishment of pledges she made with the public about changing the system. “She embarked on a mission to revive 1973 Constitution, protect the system and safeguard public’s rights. She gave her life for this mission,” he added. According to him, the PPP is the symbol of the federation and a guarantee to the national security.
Referring to the problems being faced by the public, he said his government owned all the problems. “We’ll never put the blame on previous governments. Today we’re in while they’re out because they failed to solve public problems. We assure you that we’ll settle all issues in five years,” he promised.
He said the enemies of democracy launched attack on Benazir Bhutto on her arrival while the country was under emergency rule and the judges were either removed or put under house arrest at that time.
“It was Mohtarma (Benazir Bhutto) who challenged the dictator and announced to restore the Chief Justice and hoist flag on his house,” the PM recalled, adding that Ms Bhutto convinced the entire world and forced the dictator to shed his uniform. “He ruled the country as president and army chief for eight years but he could not survive for just six months as president in democracy,” he told the audience, adding that the democratic vision of Benazir Bhutto forced the dictator to hold elections.
He credited Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari for the restoration of democracy in the country.
“It was Mohtarma who convinced Mian Nawaz Sharif to contest polls and when he visited Garhi Khuda Bukhsh to condole the martyrdom of Mohtarma, it was Asif Zardari who prevented Sharifs from boycotting the elections,” he maintained. He claimed that there would not have been free media, independent judiciary or democracy had the PML (N) boycotted the 2008 polls.
He said the PML (N) and PPP were running coalition government in Punjab while the latter formed government in the Centre while the person who could not find even a little space within the country was Gen Musharraf.
According to him, Multan is a historical place as many movements started from here. “Great leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto launched his drive to change the system from Multan. He wanted to empower the common man, poor labourer and tenant, and proved that the change was possible through ballot.” He declared to revive the historic importance of Multan, saying it would be turned into Bhutto’s fortress.
Gilani announced to give jobs to the people, saying he was jailed for this crime and he would continue to commit it again and again. He said the government would launch such projects aimed at generating job opportunities. He said the previous government employed 100,000 persons and his government confirmed their services. He said he would talk to the Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif for release of big city allowance for Multan.
The public meeting was also addressed by the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saed Kazmi, Senator Malik Salah Udden Dogar, MPAs Abdul Qadir Gilani, Nazim Shah, Malik Ahmad Hassan Dehar and Amir Dogar, PPP Multan district coordinator Khalid Hanif Lodhi and city president Khurshid Khan.
Earlier talking to a delegation of Multan Press Club at Circuit House, PM said he was not opposed to the Saraiki province but the prevailing conditions did not permit the launching of this move. He reiterated that the government strongly believed in provincial autonomy. He said the performance of the government could be gauged from its achievements like declaration of NFC award. “We’ve ensured just distribution of national resources through NFC,” he added. He said the Karachi-Peshawar Motorway would be constructed soon.
Later on, the PM also met with the delegations of Multan Bar and hawkers. He announced Rs20 million fund for the construction of new chambers at the district courts. Similarly, responding to a demand from newspaper sellers, he directed the commissioner Multan division to select an appropriate site for the construction of a newspaper market.
Microsoft’s president of Server and Tools Business, Bob Muglia, described in a keynote address at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference how the industry’s thinking about the cloud has evolved over the past year. Muglia suggested that the infrastructure behind Microsofts search engine, Bing, was an inspiration in the creation of the Azure platform. Azure will begin charging for its services in February 2010.
– Even as it started planning Microsoft Azure, its cloud-based
platform for designing Web applications and services, Microsoft evolved in its thinking on the nature of the cloud and drew some inspiration
from the architecture behind Bing, its search engine.
So said Bob Muglia, president of Micro…
In praise of the ideas of Russ Ackoff
IT IS hard to imagine a less enticing title for a book than “Introduction to Operations Research”. Yet Russ Ackoff, one of the authors of this tome of 1959, who died on October 29th aged 90, did not just help to define a nascent branch of industrial engineering. He wrote 30 other books, becoming one of the most influential management gurus of the 20th century in the process. His ideas about systemic thinking are vitally important today if the world is to come out of the current economic crisis in better shape than it went into it.
Today’s crisis is the result of a catastrophic failure, primarily in the financial system but also of our economic and political systems. Mr Ackoff spent most of the past half-century as the premier evangelist of systemic thinking, which he contrasted with the reductionist, atomistic thinking that had long dominated humanity’s approach to problem-solving in his view. Time and again, he would point out, decision-makers faced with crises failed to heed Albert Einstein’s warning that “we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” …
A fresh way to take the salt out of seawater
THERE is a lot of water on Earth, but more than 97% of it is salty and over half of the remainder is frozen at the poles or in glaciers. Meanwhile, around a fifth of the world’s population suffers from a shortage of drinking water and that fraction is expected to grow. One answer is desalination—but it is an expensive answer because it requires a lot of energy. Now, though, a pair of Canadian engineers have come up with an ingenious way of using the heat of the sun to drive the process. Such heat, in many places that have a shortage of fresh water, is one thing that is in abundant supply.
Ben Sparrow and Joshua Zoshi met at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, while completing their MBAs. Their company, Saltworks Technologies, has set up a test plant beside the sea in Vancouver and will open for business in November. …
I told my friend Graham that I often cycle the two miles from my house to the town centre but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, ‘You mean fortunately.’ He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided.
My attitude to the hill has now changed. I used to grumble as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to lose weight and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. Finally as I wend my way up the incline I console myself with the thought of all those silly people who pay money to go to a gym and sit on stationery exercise bicycles when I can get the same value for free. I have a smug smile of satisfaction as I reach the top of the hill.
Problems are there to be faced and overcome. We cannot achieve anything with an easy life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to gain a University degree. Her activism and writing proved inspirational. She wrote, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.â€
One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity. From time to time we all face hardships, problems, accidents, afflictions and difficulties. Some are of our making but many confront us through no fault of our own. Whilst we cannot choose the adversity we can choose our attitude towards it.
Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs amputated following a flying accident. He was determined to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aces in the Battle of Britain with 22 aerial victories over the Germans. He was an inspiration to others during the war. He said, “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do this or that. That’s nonsense. Make up your mind, you’ll never use crutches or a stick, then have a go at everything. Go to school, join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible.â€
How can you change your attitude towards the adversity that you face? Try these steps:
The biographies of great people are littered with examples of how they took these kinds of steps to overcome the difficulties they faced. The common thread is that they did not become defeatist or depressed. They chose their attitude. They opted to be positive. They took on the challenge. They won.
Paul Sloane is an author and speaker on leadership, innovation and lateral thinking. His most recent book is The Innovative Leader. He helps organizations improve innovation, creativity and leadership. He is the founder of Destination Innovation. He has written 15 books of lateral thinking puzzles and hosts the lateral puzzles forum.
