Making the Most of Your Intranet -- HotOffice -- SharePoint -- Mindbridge

Making the Most of Your Intranet -- HotOffice -- SharePoint -- Mindbridge: "Seven years ago, INK, Inc., a pay-for-placement media relations firm, needed a way for its staff to quickly share information about potential opportunities for clients. E-mail was too awkward and restrictive, especially where images or video materials were concerned. The answer was for INK to create its own intranet."

Techman's 10th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Dance

Hold the Date for Techman's 10th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Dance

On May 10, 2008

Details will follow.

Clodagh

Susan St. Ledger Senior Vice President, Salesforce.com - WSJ.com

Susan St. Ledger Senior Vice President, Salesforce.com - WSJ.com: "Susan St. Ledger always thought she would go back and get her M.B.A. But too many, not-to-be-missed career opportunities got in the way. Ms. St. Ledger doesn't regret any of them. Whether it was working as the chief of staff for the president of Sun Microsystems or introducing Salesforce.com's Software-as-a-Service (SAS) platform to clients, Ms. St. Ledger found little time for hitting the books or sitting in a classroom. 'I think getting an M.B.A. is a great thing, but I think you really have to balance it with, 'What are the opportunities you're faced with at work?' ' Elizabeth Garone spoke with Ms. St. Ledger about those opportunities in her career. Edited excerpts follow."

Marketplace: The essential job of a leader

Marketplace: The essential job of a leader: "How do you learn to lead in the world of high-stakes corporate affairs? Author Warren Bennis says it all comes down to one thing: Good judgment. He talks with Kai Ryssdal about his new book."

Cheer Up, Ben: Your Economy Isn't As Bad as This One - WSJ.com

Cheer Up, Ben: Your Economy Isn't As Bad as This One - WSJ.com: "In the real world, banks are reeling from the subprime-mortgage mess. In the online game Second Life, a shutdown of the make-believe banking system is causing real-life havoc for thousands of people."

Independent Street : Brainstorming Online for Dollars

Independent Street : Brainstorming Online for Dollars: "At a packed room at Bello Restaurant in New York Monday night, Chris Elam, founder of a Brooklyn dance theater, got a check for $10,000 just for his business idea.
His pitch: a Web site for performing artists that offers live rehearsal streaming, instant messaging and virtual theaters where viewers can watch performances from different vantage points."

Bangkok journal | PRI's The World

Bangkok journal | PRI's The World: "Bangkok is at a unique juncture in its evolution and history right now, growing at a rate few human developments have ever seen. To put things in perspective, the institutions and infrastructure of Europe and America industrialized and modernized over the span of roughly two centuries. Bangkok is going through this shift in the blink of an eye. The city has been experiencing the industrial, technological, democratic, and sexual revolutions almost all at once."

Technology from Estonia

Technology | PRI's The World: "The Baltic nation of Estonia is trying to make a name for itself in the world of technology. So far, at least one of its high-tech innovations has gone global. Skype...the software that lets you make free phone calls over the internet is used by millions around the world. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Skype manager Sten Tamkivi."

TelecomWeb :: Cisco/BT Authors Walk The Sustainability Walk, Talk The Talk

TelecomWeb :: Cisco/BT Authors Walk The Sustainability Walk, Talk The Talk: "wanting to grow profitably in the future must focus their efforts to benefit shareholders, society and the environment simultaneously."

Wi-Fi Users, Beware: Hot Spots Are Weak Spots - WSJ.com

Wi-Fi Users, Beware: Hot Spots Are Weak Spots - WSJ.com: "Next time you are sitting in a hotel lobby checking email on your laptop, be careful: The 'businessman' in the next lounge chair may be tracking your every move."

Google Announces Plan To Destroy All Information It Can't Index | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Google Announces Plan To Destroy All Information It Can't Index | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—Executives at Google, the rapidly growing online-search company that promises to 'organize the world's information,' announced Monday the latest step in their expansion effort: a far-reaching plan to destroy all the information it is unable to index."

Demand Rises for Talent-Management Software - WSJ.com

Demand Rises for Talent-Management Software - WSJ.com: "Hoping to reduce turnover and increase worker satisfaction, companies are upgrading the way they manage, assess and share employee performance data. They are investing in Web-based software that tracks the progress of workers from the time they apply to work at a company until they leave."

Microsoft Comes to Grocery Aisle With MediaCart Console - WSJ.com

Microsoft Comes to Grocery Aisle With MediaCart Console - WSJ.com: "SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. is bringing digital advertising to the grocery cart.
The software maker spent four years working with Plano, Texas-based MediaCart Holdings Inc. on a grocery cart-mounted console that helps shoppers find products in the store, then scan and pay for their items without waiting in the checkout line. Microsoft's acquisition of online advertising company aQuantive last year for $6 billion shored up the company's capacity to serve video ads onto these grocery cart screens."

Technology products and individual change

Ran across this book while perusing Amazon: "The Change Function", by Pip Coburn (former Global Technology Strategist for UBS, former columnist for Red Herring magazine). He says that the leading cause of failure in technology product introduction is that tech companies believe in "build it and they will come".

The author proposes that a better approach is the Total Perceived Pain of Adoption (including cost, level of change from established habit, etc.) must be significantly less than the level of pain caused by the Crisis (the problem the product is supposed to solve). He quotes Ted Leavitt, from the Harvard Business School, who said "People don't buy a quarter-inch drill. They buy a quarter-inch hole. You've got to study the hole, not the drill. The drill is just a solution for it."

Here's a link
for an interview with the author:

I thought the discussion of flat panel TV adoption (and HD TV) at Best Buy was interesting. They also discuss the effect of social networking and peer pressure in creating the Crisis as opposed to just functionality needs (my friends all have quarter-inch holes in their walls...).

Haven't read the book yet, but thought it seemed like one of those things that, once you think about it, you say "well, of course that's how it works", but apparently many tech companies don't 'get it'.

carl

Business Alliance China FastTrack Forum

David Bohigian, Asst. Secretary for Market Access and Compliance at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, currently on a trade mission regarding business opportunities for American companies in China, will share his perspective on these possibilities as the Closing Keynote speaker at the January 24th China FastTrack program. His remarks will immediately follow those of Jin Ju, Minister Counselor for Science & Technology at the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC, ending a full day program featuring networking and presentations by other government officials, Chinese and local business leaders experienced in this market.

If you or your clients are contemplating China as a market or as another resource for business growth—or if you are seeking to educate yourself about the real possibilities and issues in this market, register now to attend the China FastTrack Forum.

Registration includes presentations in the morning regarding market opportunities, afternoon panels regarding risk management and getting started, and keynotes at breakfast, lunch and the networking reception. Attend the breakouts in which you are most interested or stay all day.

Business Alliance ChinaFastTrack Forum

YouTube - Keynote - Bill Gates' Last Day - January 6, 2008

YouTube - Keynote - Bill Gates' Last Day - January 6, 2008

Show It, Save It, Watch It Dance - WSJ.com

Show It, Save It, Watch It Dance - WSJ.com: "At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas -- which continues through tomorrow -- there is no question which force is stronger right now. Amid a reasonably bright forecast for sales, the flood of new devices to handle digital content is surging."

NPR : 'Marketplace' Report: Wikipedia Search Goes Live

NPR : 'Marketplace' Report: Wikipedia Search Goes Live: "Day to Day, January 7, 2008 · Wikipedia launches Wikia Search, an online search engine to be run by volunteers. Users can rate how helpful results are. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall-Genzer discusses how the nonprofit organization plans to transition into a revenue-generating business and whether Google should be scared."

Marketplace: New technology buzzes at CES

What's big at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas? CNet's Brian Cooley talks to Doug Krizner about new advances in GPS technology and whether Blu-Ray has won the high-def war with its new deal.Marketplace: New technology buzzes at CES

Netflix's future might be online

Marketplace from American Public Media: "Netflix is trying to embrace the future. The DVD-by-mail company has been offering its customers the chance to watch movies online at no extra charge. Now Netflix is starting a partnership with LG electronics to make it easier for people to watch online content directly on their TVs. A set-top box will do the bridge between the computer and the television. Netflix's CEO said yesterday that eventually, he wants to see 100 different devices out there capable of connecting to Netflix -- from video-game consoles to high-definition DVD players."

Technology | Online Ads Come of Age, or Maybe Not - washingtonpost.com

Technology | Online Ads Come of Age, or Maybe Not - washingtonpost.com: "The rise of social networks such as Facebook and wireless gadgets such as the iPhone has set off a small stampede of companies hoping to build on or replicate their success. Many are counting on advertising to pay the bills."

Contracting | Shifting From Tanks to Technology - washingtonpost.com

Contracting | Shifting From Tanks to Technology - washingtonpost.com: "For government contractors, 2007 wasn't pretty: They had to contend with tighter budgets and increased oversight from a new Democratic Congress, as well as polarizing controversies surrounding the conduct of contractors in Iraq."