I am Person of the Year

Time has announced that I am person of the year.  Wow what an honor.  Who woud have thought that I control the internet!

Seriously, take a look at the article.  It is true that the internet is changing much of what is done on a daily basis.  More on that in an upcoming post!!

Greener Pastures in India??

Businessweek.com posted an article by Rachael King about how outsourcing is extending beyond India.  Apparently some developers working in India are becoming frustrated with the ability to get things done there. 

It seems to me that the whole outsourcing debate is simply the latest fad in the global economy.  The first companies to take advantage of the costs associated with an operation in India were able to take advantage of those costs.  As more and more companies enter into India, the number of workers available to do the work is going down and now the workforce is moving from job to job to better their positions and income.  These factors are now raising the cost of doing business in India.  Makes sense to me.

One need only look to Japan of 20 years ago for a similar trend.  I can remember in the 70’s and 80’s when everyone said that Japan was going to be the only economy left.  The pundits predicted that all of the jobs in the United States would leave for Japan because the cost of doing business was so much less there.  Well now we see that the economy is moving beyond Japan to China.  Some of the work previously done in Japan is coming back to the United States! (Toyota Motors now assembles cars in the United States)  The same thing is going to happen to India. 

As time goes on many of the companies that tried India are now moving some of their business operations back to the United States.  It seems that some things do not work so well in India!!  (Ever talked to an account representative in India?? — Seems that they are always named Bob to John??!!)  In short, the customers have complained and the companies have heard the voice.  They are now moving back to the US where the complaints and the overall cost of doing business will be less when one factors in the cost of lost business to the bottom line.  Similarly they are now looking for the next big outsourcing location.  Perhaps Nepal??!

Simply put — this stuff is all cyclical.  Wait 5 years and the jobs that are going to India will be back here.

UCLA Hacked - 800,000 affected

CNN is reporting that UCLA’s computer system containing social security numbers and other vital information was hacked between October 2005 and November 2006.  Some 800,000 people’s records could have been compromised.

What is going on with this picture?  How can it be that someone was trolling around in the system for over a year without being caught.  Apparently they realized there was a problem when they started noticing strange search requests.  Makes me wonder whether they were looking at those requests earlier. 

I thought computer security people would have learned from the blow up about the Veteran’s Administration records etc.  Seems that every week there is another report about a security lapse.  And some people are still concerned about using a credit card online!  That is the least of our worries when it comes to protecting our identity!

Changing Face of Connectivity

Robert Scoble posted an article on his blog about how he was using his web enabled verizon card to get online and check traffic reports.  His post got me thinking about how the internet has and continues to change our world.

Ten years ago we could not even have thought about how one could use the web to check on current traffic conditions.  For that matter I would imagine that only the most committed wireless user would even be able to do that not.  But then things are changing.

I would immagine that within a few years we will have this type of connectivity wired directly into our cars using the navigation system that is already in many vehicles.  One can only imagine how far this type of thing will go in the future.

Maybe we will be able to dial up our local Starbucks and order our drink before we get to the store so that all we have to do is stop for a second and pick it up!  We will see.

Full Text Feeds

I just read Amit Agarwal’s post about whether to allow full text feeds or to only publish short summaries on the RSS feed. 

Interesting stuff - seems very counterintuitive.

Connection Fatigue

I caught an article in the Wall Street Journal about how children are resenting the fact that their parents are constantly connected to their Blackberry devices.  That got me to thinking about the problems that this connected life is causing us all.

As a former Blackberry user and the current user of a Treo, I can certainly understand how these devices are becoming both prolific and addicting.  I can’t tell you the number of times my wife has scolded me about how rude it is to check my e-mail at dinner or when with other people.  It is simply impossible to put these things down. 

I have come to the conclusion that the more of these devises we have the more we have to use them.  It has almost become like a dog chasing its tail.  The more connections we have the more we rely on the connection and the more we use that connection.

Of course the promise of these devises is that they will relieve us from the binds of work.  I don’t think anyone that has one of these things would suggest that they have reduced their work load.  I think just the opposite is occurring.

Where do we go from here?  I have no idea but I can only imagine that in the not so distant future we will be working 24/7.  No wait maybe the future is already here!