J. Rhoads Research / formerly MobyApp

It has been an exciting 15 months at GW. We made it! Congrats to all.

Give me a green screen day any day of the week. Now before you say I am crazy, let me explain. Back in the day, we had these centralized systems called mainframes. They were very expensive and were high maintenance. Given these high costs, the systems maintained 99.999 to 100% of hardware availability --WOW! I remember hearing how mainframers were scared to turn off or reboot (they call it IPL) the mainframe. Some mainframes have been up for years before needing an IPL! Why do newer more advanced server computers have to be rebooted daily? How many times does Chicken Little have to run around the office screaming the "network is down"? Is it because servers are cheaper than mainframes? Is it because the server guy/girl is clueless? Are the applications junk? Why? Why? Why? Well here are my thoughts.... 1. Servers are cheaper! Not only are they cheaper they are not all that different than your Personal Computer (PC). How many times do you reboot your PC? How many of us put the

I think I am going to continue with this blog. The plan is to transform it into a tool for CIO's and others on the CIO track. Lots of ideas going through my brain, hopefully I will not rant too much.

Well today is the end of the semester of summer. I blew the last test ---should have enough points to make the class! Here are some highlights to remember... 1. Are you in the cloud? 2. Neisayer or Leader? 3. Web 2.0 verus 1.o Well that is all I can remember for now...mind is a mess. See you in the fall! Jerry

I was reading this on the CIO Weblog: http://www.cio-weblog.com/50226711/cios_in_odd_places.php "How is this for alignment? Eye care company Bausch & Lomb has named Alan Farnsworth as CIO... and Senior Vice President of Customer Service. I've heard of CFOs doubling as CIOs. A COO doubling up on the role would raise no eyebrows here. But customer service? Mr. Farnsworth, who has been with the company since 1998 and has most recently held the position of president of the company's Europe, Middle East, and Asia division, doesn't appear to have a lick of IT experience in his background. " -- CIO Weblog Well, I.T. involves quite a bit of customer service. Especially in dealing with the support side of the house, this is where a customer service oriented person can fit the bill (just remember IT isn't all about computer technical support). If this guy were technical (in addition to the customer service background), I think it would be a great move. Heck all exec

LOS ANGELES, July 20 (AFP) Jul 20, 2008 Videogames are getting smarter with virtual enemies improvising during battles, storylines shifting based on moral choices and in-game characters sending players text messages for help. Woah...... http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/080720070328.tvuhovui.html

Digg is to be purchased by Google for about $200 million, according to technology blog techcrunch.com. This means that Digg will become part of the Google News service. Digg has become one of the most popular news websites, with users submitting stories and voting for other's submissions to appear in prominent positions on the site. Microsoft is (rumored) interested in buying the Digg as well. Techcrunch reports that the majority of Digg's revenue comes from a three year advertising deal struck with Microsoft, which would be terminated should the company be sold to Google. for the complete story, see: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-close-to-acquiring-digg-for-200m-875290.html

Well almost. I have the iPhone 1.0 with the 2.0 firmware installed. Installation was smooth, the only hickup was re-activation. It took about a half hour to re-activate with AT&T. Seems AT&T was overwelmed with new iPhone subscriptions. Once I re-activated, I couldn't wait to check it out. The Appstore is everything I hoped it would be. I downloaded twitter, facebook,Loopt, and a few other applications. The installation went well. Loopt is pretty cool as it uses cellphone towers to guess your location. It does a pretty good job, much better than the built in maps application. I also downloaded Where. This handy app locates starbucks, cheap gas, zip cars, concert events, resturants, and other cool places. The Microsoft Exchange active sync works just like its Windows Mobile counterpart. Calendars, Contacts, and push mail are a breese. Unlike the Windows Mobile active sync, iPhone's active sync doesn't have a problem with my self signed ssl certs! Pandora is an app I

"I think that "innovation" is a four-letter word in the industry. It should never be used in polite company. It's become a PR thing to sell new versions with. It was Edison who said "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration". That may have been true a hundred years ago. These days it's "0.01% inspiration, 99.99% perspiration", and the inspiration is the easy part. As a project manager, I have never had trouble finding people with crazy ideas. I have trouble finding people who can execute. IOW, "innovation" is way oversold. And it sure as hell shouldn't be applied to products like MS Word or Open office. " --Linus Torvalds You know something, he is right! For those of us execs with ADHD --innovation can some times be the bling that distracts us from the misson!

IBM and Sun Microsystems have unveiled new tape-drive products that promise to break the 1TB-capacity barrier. IBM's System Storage TS1130, which supports drive-based data encryption, will debut in September, while Sun Microsystem's StorageTek T10000B tape drive, which achieves a maximum date rate of 120MB per second, will launch this month. The business world has long relied on tape storage as a cost-effective medium for protecting critical business data from becoming lost due to system failure, operator errors, theft and natural disasters. The good news for many enterprises is that an aging technology that has long lain dormant is once again springing back to life through the launch of new products spanning the small to very large business environments. For example, it is significant that both IBM and Sun Microsystems have unveiled new tape-drive products this month that promise to break the one-terabyte-capacity barrier. Moreover, HP and Sony now say they will be partnering

iPhone 2.0 software update. @ http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/ I am so waiting for this update. Looks like July 11th with be the the day I plug in my trusty iPhone to my MacBook Pro and download the 2.0 Firmware. Here is what it comes with: 1. Microsoft Active Sync --Cool! 2. Scientific Calcualtor --Way Cool! too bad stats is over :( 3. Real Applications --Ajax is cool, but the internet is not always avalible 4. Builtin AIM! --Thank the GODS 5. Moble Me --cloud computing, cool to mention for school, Hi Professor Lumley! 6. PPT, aka powerpoint Still need cut and paste! Waiting for Christmas in July! Till then Jerry

Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief --It can seriously damage your grades Apparently Wikipedia is helping students fail. Yikes! I cite them, however it is with facts that I know are true --just need to back it up with a quick reference! I found this article @ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ here are a few blurbs, with my comments! LOL Supposedly the students are emailing the Wikipedia Chief, Mr. Wales. These emails say, 'Please help me. I got an F on my paper because I cited Wikipedia'" and the information turned out to be wrong, he says. But he said he has no sympathy for their plight, noting that he thinks to himself: "For God sake, you're in college; don't cite the encyclopedia," --WOW, I recommend to go to multiple sources. Can I phone as friend?? Wales didn't suggest renaming the project to something more appropriate, like " Jimbo's Big Bag of Trivia ", --okay Apparently, according to the

Apple targets Blackberry business users with iPhone 2.0 Looks like the iPhone 2.0 a.k.a son of the iPhone has hit the streets.  Seems like all kinds of goodies are loaded on this phone. First of all, fast 3G connectivity, PowerPoint reader, and MobileMe. MobileMe will allow the delivery of email in realtime, just like RIM's Blackberry and Microsoft ActiveSync. Question, will iPhone show up on corporate networks anytime soon? Lastly will the iPhone 1.0 users get the MobileMe and PowerPoint reader? 

Son of iPhone: the next revolution Is the son of the iPhone, the next gotta have gadget? I was one of those first folks to get the iPhone and I loved it --still do! It has its limitations, i.e. still no cut and paste, 2.5g EDGE. Some complain about the keyboard, yet I love mine --think it i better than my Blackberry. Furthermore I hate the stylus on the windows mobile phones. So what will this new gotta have gadget....have? Looks like it will have a 3G data connection --yeah! Rumor has it a video camera and more space --for those videos I presume. Apple is keeping quiet on the expectations of the son of the iPhone. I guess we'll have to see what happens when it goes out for sell June 9th!

Hi all, Here are a few articles of interest I read in my RSS reader on Google. This week my interests were peaked with the following: China to encroach on India's offshoring turf? Seems China is going after India's offshoring market. I remember doing something in Dr. Money's class. India is more mature in its CMMi than China --but time will tell. With the dollar being so low these days, maybe we can get China and India to offshore here -- LOL !! The CIO as Mind Reader Here is a blurb from the CIO Web Blog: "It seems pretty widely accepted in CIO circles that much of the bad rap that often accrues to IT comes not so much from the IT department (although IT people certainly have their failings) as from other parts of the business ascribing mystical qualities of perception and capability to the IT department. "Just make this work," is a not infrequent demand. Many executives don't want to hear about the complications, don't want to put the time in

Recently an EMIS team member posed the question of "What is the business value of social networking" (thank you Tom). How does IBM or the Government use a site like LinkedIn ( http://www.linkedin.com/ ) or FaceBook ( http://www.facebook.com/ ) as a business tool? Currently we [the people] gain the value. We do our LinkedIn and FaceBook activities, and maybe click on a partner's link and buy something. These sites are very popular as millions use them. So how can social networking sites (or the idea for an internal social networking site) be beneficial to companies like IBM? I am thinking along the lines of a Knowledge Management (KM) tool. ( hmmmm me thinks me have an idea for my Capstone project) Thoughts?