V4 N50 -  22 May 2005

iTHINK ZONE
 

Three Steps to Give Your Strategic Plan Traction

We all agree Strategic Planning is a critical part of a company's success. All too often, however, strategic plans stall before they ever make it to execution - or they gradually lose momentum. The organization is then left in a vulnerable and uncomfortable position of continuing to go about its business with good intentions but no focused direction or aligned action. Move intention into action using this three step remedy.

READ ON
http://cyberzone.pacific-tier.com/iThink.htm
[Posted May 14 ]
 

VoIP ZONE

NEW VoIP and IP TELEPHONY NEWS & INFORMATION WEB PAGE FROM CYBERZONE PARTNER PACIFIC-TIER COMMUNICATIONS. 
YOU CAN NOW READ CONSTANT UPDATES ON VoIP and IP TELEPHONY AT A NEW SISTER SITE ESTABLISHED BY OUR PACIFIC-TIER PARTNER.  UPDATED 24/7, THE SITE COVERS ALL RELEVANT NEWS AND INFORMATION ON VoIP ISSUES, SERVICES AND PROVIDERS.

YOU CAN READ IT & BOOKMARK IT AT
http://voip.pacific-tier.com/

FCC TELLS VoIP CARRIERS TO PROVIDE 911
The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to require carriers to ensure that 911 calls from Internet phones will reach live emergency dispatchers instead of being connected to administrative lines. In addition, the carriers will have to provide callers' numbers and addresses.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=8546689


CONGRESS PUSHES 911 MANDATE ON VoIP
Internet telephone companies would be required to link up to the emergency 911 network, according to a new bill in Congress. The 10-page measure, which has been introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives, also would permit state and local governments to levy taxes on voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) companies in exchange for providing access to 911 operators.
http://news.zdnet.com/2001-1035_22-0.html

VONAGE APPEARS ON VERGE OF WIRELESS VoIP Vonage, one of the early leaders among independent providers of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, is reportedly working out the final bugs in a WiFi-compatible service that could launch at any time.  Several published reports say Vonage has begun asking customers to test- drive both wireless handsets for VoIP and wireless routers from Cisco's Linksys.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/43143.html

CISCO TO HOOK-UP VoIP FOR BRITISH AIRWAYS Cisco will provide 8,500 phones to British Airways (BA). The phones will connect about 14,000 office and airport employees of the BA. The VoIP equipment will be the largest deployment across the airline industry worldwide. Cisco will also cross the landmark of proving 5 million IP telephones. Prime Business Solutions, the reseller of Cisco will handle the contract, which will be completed by March 2006. The set up is expected to cover its entire cost within two years of deployment owing to the reduction in the costs associated with the telephones and an increase in productivity with the use of an IP-based system.

VoIP COMPANIES FIND ACCEPTANCE & REJECTION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
VoIP providers are having mixed results trying to enter foreign phone markets. For instance, Vonage sees Singapore as a gateway to the Asian market because its telecom rules are considered friendly. On the other end of the spectrum, VoIP users in Mexico reportedly face the prospect of having their broadband connections shut off by Telmex.
http://news.com.com/VoIP+finds+foreign+friends+and+adversaries/2100-1037_3-5709459.html?tag=nefd.top

OTHERS' THINK ZONE

I, CRINGELY
Inflection Point--This Week Changed the World of High Tech Forever, Though Most of Us Still Don't Know It http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050512.html

CYBERZONE

FLIPPER IS GOING WIRELESS.
South African researchers plan to collar dusky dolphins next month with a new tracking device that uses cell phone sim cards.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,77463~3285557a28~,00.html

IBM AND ONECLEVELAND COLLABORATE ON GRID COMPUTING IBM this week unveiled its Economic Development Grid, an effort to bring grid computing out of research labs and into government, education, health care, and other areas. O The implementation includes several separate projects: the Higher Education Collaborative Grid, designed to give new access to higher education and increase enrollments at Ohio universities; the K-12 Outreach Grid, which gives K-12 teachers access to resources at other schools and universities; and the Healthcare Collaborative Grid.
http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3505951

CELL PHONE RECYCLE-FOR-CALIFORNIA STARTS OPERATIONS California Legislature had passed a law in 2004, which mandated that the retailers selling mobile phones had to formulate programs to take back and recycle cellphones by 2006. In response to this law, RecycleForCalifornia.com was established by RMS Communications Group Inc. This organization is based in Folsom and will be funded by the industry and cater to the recycling needs all over the state. The organization recycled about 1,000 phones within the first week of commencing its operations. About 150 establishments including companies, municipal authorities and non-profit organizations are participating in the program.All the donated cellphones will be recycled in an environment friendly manner. Most of the phones will be donated to the emergency and help groups or will be sent abroad as a means to provide communication to the remote areas.

DARPA SAYS FUNDING TO UNIVERSITIES RISING, NOT FALLING The Pentagon wants to make it clear: it's not cutting funds overall for research at universities -- although computer-related funding is down. By http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/05/ap/ap_3051305.asp?trk=nl

COLLEGE LIBRARIES PUT BOOKS ASIDE IN DIGITAL AGE Students attending the University of Texas at Austin will find something missing from the undergraduate library this fall. By mid-July, the university says, almost all of the library's 90,000 volumes will be dispersed to other university collections to clear space for a 24-hour electronic information commons, a fast-spreading phenomenon that is transforming research and study on campuses around the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/education/14library.html?pagewanted=print

@HOME SHARED PROCESSING FOR SCIENCE
Fans of the spacetime continuum can now uncover gravitational ripples at their desks thanks to the February launch of Einstein@Home. The project is one of the latest of at least 60 "@home" projects now on the Internet, in which personal-computer users can donate spare processor power to help solve scientific problems. And no need to choose one mission over another: @home software can now multitask, and enough microchip muscle exists to handle many more distributed-computing projects.
http://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe6b16717564017d711c-fe20167073670d7c7c1c79

BIO/NANO/MEMS ZONE

SGI IMPLEMENTS FORENCICS PROGRAMS
Italian police using computer graphics for crime scene analysis Noting the smallest details in a crime scene -- the reflection on a desk, the position of the sun, the dust on the floor -- can help detectives crack the toughest cases. With that eye for detail in mind, police in Italy are using virtual reality technology from Silicon Graphics Inc. to re-create crime scenes on cases straight out of an episode of the hit TV show "CSI."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/05/16/BUG1HCOVK71.DTL

SUPER WATER KILLS BUGS DEAD
A California company has figured out how to use two simple materials
-- water and salt -- to create a solution that wipes out single-celled organisms, and which appears to speed healing of burns, wounds and diabetic ulcers. The solution looks, smells and tastes like water, but carries an ion imbalance that makes short work of bacteria, viruses and even hard-to-kill spores. Developed by Oculus Innovative Sciences in Petaluma, the super-oxygenated water is claimed to be as effective a disinfectant as chlorine bleach, but is harmless to people, animals and plants. If accidentally ingested by a child, the likely impact is a bad case of clean teeth.
http://wired.com/news/print/0,1294,67472,00.html

WHAT JESUS, THE BEATLES & MICHAEL KEATON HAVE IN COMMON Humans evolved brains that are pattern-recognition machines, adept at detecting signals that enhance or threaten survival amid a very noisy world. This capability is association learning--associating the causal connections between A and B--as when our ancestors associated the seasons with the migration of game animals. We are skilled enough at it to have survived and passed on the genes for the capacity of association learning. Unfortunately, the system has flaws.
http://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe7016717564017d7117-fe20167073670d7c7c1c79

USES DEVELOPED FOR NANOTECH INK JETS
A New Hampshire company, putting down Silicon Valley roots, is developing nano-printing technologies that could eventually make better electronics, labeling and even the foundation for human skin cells.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/11658543.htm

BIO-BRIEFS ZONE

Jacksonville--BioFlorida forming Northeast chapter
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1433511

San Francisco--Biotech pushes growth: Rinat maps out expansion at new HQ
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1433512

San Francisco-- Exelixis nets $35M in payments through partnership with Glaxo
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1433513

San Jose--Funding specialist is growing biotech
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1433514

Washington--After failed merger, MdBio targets Tech Council ranks
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1433515

Washington--D.C. pharmaceutical firm raises $11M in first round
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1433516

ASIA ZONE

The FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW is relaunching its signature column Traveler's Tales as an Internet blog. The blog harks back to the style of Derek Davies, the REVIEW's editor in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, when the column was one of the best-loved fixtures of the magazine. The column has 45 years of history, first appearing in the REVIEW's December 22, 1960 issue. For a decades, the column remained a kind of proto-blog-the place where the editors recorded snippets of news, personal observations, risque jokes and usually benign gossip.  http://ets.dowjones.com/trk/click?ref=zp91d7vhu_1-f7bx3383x3110544>www.feer.com/tales 
NOTE: Mr. Davies left the Review in 1990. and after a year as journalist in residence at the East West Center in Hawaii, he retired in 1992. He died in 2002. See his obituary at http://www.obituariesonthenet.com/obituary/Obituariesview.asp?key=490

CHINA FORUM STIRS DEBATE ON SUSTAINABLE GROWTH With the world focused on its rapid development, China has generated both excitement and concern among investors, policy makers and potential business partners. Now that global corporations have gained access to Chinese markets, they are concentrating on stability and sustainable long-term progress. Against this backdrop, the Wharton China Business Forum recently brought together business leaders and academics to discuss China's strategic plan for continued growth. The conference, entitled "Global Transitions: Demystifying China's New Path," included discussion of financial reform, entrepreneurship, consumer markets, and environmental and energy issues, among other topics.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/weblink/130.cfm

WIRELESS ZONE

CITIES WITH DEFICITS TURN TO CELLPHONE USERS TO PAY MORE TAX Faced with tight budgets and insufficient tax revenues, many municipalities are stocking their coffers by taxing cellular phone service.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/technology/14cell.html

BOSTON CONVENES WiFi SUMMIT
In an attempt to steer clear of the controversy other municipalities have faced, the city hopes a meeting of the minds will put it on the right course with the right kind of wireless broadband for all.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1mch,1,f2s3,635y,jcj3,9ffi

SITE CITES

WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?
One of the first questions that a small child will ask their parent is about the colour of the sky. Where does this bottomless blue colour come from? It's not what most people believe.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1360804.htm


 

Marty Plotnick's CyberZone is a weekly review of Hawaii technology and international technology news.  The Hawaii Technology Calendar is available on the front page of this site, with links and descriptions of events relevant to the Hawaii technology and telecommunications community.  CyberZone takes special interest in researching and collecting links to stories from international technology news sources of interest to CyberZone's readers.  If you have any comments or suggestions for improvements to his site and information resource please contact Marty Plotnick at martycri@lava.net