I didn't see it in the article, but my co-worker was talking about homebound people acting as the guide.  It sounded like they were solving two weakness by getting the two together.  The blind people can't see, and the homebound people can't get out.  With the homebound people guiding the blind people, they can virtually do both.

Now, you can have a little fun with this, no offense meant to the people involved.  There must be a lot of trust involved on the blind person's part.  Just don't make the guide mad -- you may get guided in front of a bus.  The article talks about sky diving.  I can imagine the Internet going out or the computer locking up at just the point when the person was to pull the cord to open the parachute!

Article: Blind adventurer uses Skype as his "eyes" in new documentary

Apple co-founder believes iPod has about run its course.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak this week likened the iPod to a fad whose days atop the consumer electronics market are numbered while lamenting the limitations of the iPhone 3G, for which he'd like to write certain applications but can't due to restrictions.

"The iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one," he told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview. "Things like that, if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while."

He also spoke out about the direction Apple has chose for the iPhone, specifically the limitations the company has imposed on developers, which, in his opinion, stifle innovation.

"Consumers aren't getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down," he said, arguing in favor of Google's open approach to the Android platform that offers developers more freedom. "I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed."

Quello qui a fianco è una parte della pagina di download di skype per linux: è sostanzialmente diversa da quella per gli altri sistemi operativi, e mostra al centro uno screenshot di un fantastico uso di skype: videochiamare una bella biondina. I più attenti, o per lo meno, quelli attenti quanto me, noteranno che il nome della bionda interlocutrice è proprio Tricia McMillian, la Trillian che Arthur conosce nel primo libro, e che continuerà a frequentare fino alla fine.

Questo nome è piazzato lì, nella pagina di skype, senza alcun altro riferimento, senza altre indicazioni. Solo la faccetta della biondina che sorride, e che quando hai capito che il suo nome è un tributo, un eastern egg, allora capisci quel sorrisetto enigmatico come una bionda gioconda informatica.

1: Introduction
Make sure to have a brief introduction on the homepage of your web site. Your introduction should be concise and clearly identify the benefits of your visitors shopping at your site.

2: Navigation
Make sure that your site has clear and easy navigation, such as a visible search box on the top part of your web site, clear categories to browse through, a FAQ page that clearly explains your shipping and return policy, and etc.

3: Gift Certificates
People love getting gifts at certain times of the year, so make sure that you have gift certificates that your visitors can purchase right on your web site.

4: Customer Loyalty
Instead of just focusing on getting new customers why not take advantage of repeat business? Why not give your customers an incentive to come back and do business with you again? You can easily do this by offering coupons and special discounts to ones who have already purchased something from you. This is a lot easier than acquiring new customers since they already know you and feel comfortable shopping at your site. You can also add more value to your customers by adding live customer support to your site.

5: Special Offers
Make sure to have a section on the top part of your home page devoted to featuring your current special offers and sales items. In fact if you happen to have a lot of special offers you can just feature the most popular ones and then make a separate web page that shows all of your sales items.

6: Shopping Carts
People want the checkout process to go as quickly and smoothly as possible, so make sure that your visitors are always just one click away to checkout. Try to reduce the checkout process to as few steps as possible. Make sure to offer multiple payment options such as credit cards, Paypal, online checks, mail orders, and such. When you no longer have a product in stock make sure to either remove it from your site or clearly mark it as “out of stock”. There is nothing more irritating for a customer to go through the whole checkout process only to find out that you no longer carry the item they ordered.

7: Affiliate Program
Do you have your own affiliate program? The most successful web sites have one and you should too. By starting your own affiliate program you will develop an increasing online sales force where you only pay them when a sale is made. There is really no risk and it is one of the best low cost effective advertising methods that you can use.

If you put these tips into practice you will notice a drastic increase in your sales and web site revenue.

Questions to Ask…

1. What Brand of PC, Laptop, Tablet PC, Server, or Monitor am I looking for?
2. What will I be using this for?
3. What is my budget?
4. Will I be getting the same quality as new?
5. Do I need to buy 1, a few, or many?
6. Do I really need Vista?
7. Will the programs / applications I use work with Vista?
8. Is a new Product really worth what I need to pay for it?
9. Will I have the same support with an refurbished product that I would with a new product?

With my many years in the IT industry ranging from the head of a few start ups to being a private IT consultant, I’ve been in a position to specify both new and refurbished pc’s, refurbished laptops, refurbished tablets, refurbished servers, as well as refurbished monitors. Given my experience, I’d like to share my honest opinion with you, and I think the answers to the questions might surprise you. As the founder of 123CheapPC.com, I’d surely appreciate the opportunity to serve you, but at the very least I believe you’ll find the information provided very valuable.

Answers to the Critical Questions…

1. Q: What Brand of PC am I looking for?
   A: If you’re looking for Dell, HP, IBM/Lenovo, Toshiba, Gateway, Motion Computing, Acer, or Fujitsu; both new and refurbished systems are available! Getting an Refurbished system does not mean that you are going to get stuck with a no name, off brand product.
2. Q: What will I be using this for?
   A: Our refurbished pc’s, refurbished laptops, refurbished tablets, refurbished servers, and refurbished monitors are “Grade A” products hand selected for your use. Our refurbished pcs, laptops, tablets, servers, and monitors are capable of doing everything and anything that your current products are doing and are best suited for anything from being your stand alone pc in the home to being a part of a full enterprise solution featuring hundreds of refurbished pcs.
3. Q: What is my budget?
   A: Whether your budget is big or small, you should give serious consideration to a refurbished product as you can spread your budget over a much greater area and afford much more. Our refurbished systems at 123CheapPC.com are quality tested before they leave our door. Think of our products as being less expensive with more experience.
4. Q: Will I be getting the same quality as new?
   A: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! If you are not careful, your refurbished purchase could be a nightmare! With refurbished products, there are varying grades of quality. The refurbished products from 123CheapPC.com are guaranteed to be GRADE A, which means that they are handpicked from the best of the available refurbished systems on the market. Beware of online vendors who do not disclose the grade of their products or claim that they are the best. A good way to ensure that you are getting a great product is to ensure that your vendor is a Microsoft Certified Refurbisher of which our parent company is.
5. Q: Do I need to buy 1, a few, or many?
   A: At 123CheapPC.com, our prices are the lowest on the web. No matter if you buy 1, 10 or 1000 systems, we can assure you that the value realized from working with us will be much greater than any competitor. If you have special needs, have a large order, or even a “blanketed roll out”, we can help you.
6. Q: Do I really need Vista?
   A: The easy answer- No.
   Longer Answer- Although Vista is a great new operating system with cool features and functionality, your average machine running it is going to cost you a lot more. 123CheapPC.com refurbished pc’s, laptops, and tablet pc’s are running Windows XP Professional which is likely the single greatest and most robust operating system that Microsoft has released thus far.
7. Q: Will the programs / applications I use work with Vista?
   A: Windows XP is capable of running just about anything out there, whereas Vista still has some limitations with reverse compatibility. Many medium and large sized businesses are using applications that are not compatible with Vista yet. Given that some or many of your legacy applications may not be compatible with Vista, 123CheapPC.com can provide you with what you need in the form of an refurbished solution.
8. Q: Is a new Product really worth what I need to pay for it?
   A: This is a tough one, and ultimately it depends on what you are looking for. If its a feature rich, Vista PC with gobs of memory and flashy colors… let us help you with a new

Q: Will I have the same support with an refurbished product that I would with a new product?
A: Simple Answer- YES, and in many cases better support! 123CheapPC.com’s standard warrany is 30 days, but is upgradable to 3 years which is unusual in the refurbished world. Not to mention that our upgrade costs nearly 50% less than your typical new product extended warranty! If something goes wrong, call us, we’ll help you get it fixed.

What makes these so called "public spaces" successful??

Since I have been here in Italy I have noticed that the Italians views on what is public and what is private is very different that America's view.  Italians have no problem argueing in the street, leaving their laundry to dry where anyone who walks by can see, or even sitting inside in their underwear with the door open for anyone passing by on the street to see.

It is interesting how these deffinitions blur between cultures. There is no right or wrong. So a public space could be extremely successful in Italy while being a complete and utter failure in America.

A software for this type of analysis would have to take these cultural tendencies into account. A software that could somehow take the analysis of a certain culture within a public space and then take it and throw it back into a newly designed space to see how individuals would react would be something (in my opinion) that would be very useful to architects or urban planners. Taking it to the next step would be how to make the software analyze a space with many cultural tendencies thrown into the mix. A large urban space in a large city would have many, many different cultures that could potentially use the space.

Any thoughts or comments on the subject are greatly appreciated!

Dinah Greek, Computeract!ve 06 Oct 2008

The UK government is considering implementing a database that can monitor and log the internet browsing habits, emails and phone calls of every Briton, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

If the proposal is implemented, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) would be in charge of handling the project, which is expected to cost around £12bn.

The reported aim would be to counter terrorism and organised crime. Currently MI5 has to apply to the Home Secretary for warrants to intercept specific email and website traffic.

via Government plans new super database - Computeractive.

OK I can see their point in wantingt to do this but what they seem to have forgotten that without Home office approval this is a blatant infringment of human rights, to be exact ARTICLE 8 - RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE which says "(The full text of Article 8 is set out in OG 71 A2). This Convention right ensures that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and correspondence". What does article 8 cover?

interception of correspondence, (telephone, letter, email)

search warrants (at home or at work);

access to information about a person’s own identity

The list goes on. If you want to know more about Article 8 of the Human rights act, click here. On top of the infringments the government seem to be turning a blind eye to lets face it the British government dont have a good record of keeping our details safe does it? The loss of Data sticks, CD`s, Paper work etc, etc. This is not a very good plan Mr Brown...

 "http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp
Hi All, I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus!
I checked Snopes (URL above:), and it is for real!! Get this E-mail message sent around to your contacts ASAP PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!

You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,' regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This is the reason why you need to send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.

If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it!
Shut down your computer immediately.
This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.
Snopes lists all the names it could come in."

In light of the nature of this virus, I have decided to remove the e-cards feature from my site. I don't want anything thinking that my site will cause any damage so I'm taking the proper precautions. I apologize if this poses an inconvenience for anyone.

Have a great day!

This was the case for a fella who called me for advice recently. He had done things 'right' -- and by that I mean he has a firewall, he keeps his antivirus definitions up to date, and he runs a couple of anti-spyware applications -- but suspected his machine had been hacked anyway.

He couldn't do things he was used to doing (like deleting a file) and his machine was "really slow."
But according to his scanners, his machine is in perfect shape.

Tip of the day: If you should find yourself in a similar situation there are several steps you can take to help resolve your questions and (hopefully) fix your machine without taking the drastic step of wiping your hard drive, formatting, and reinstalling Windows.

The first step is to use a scanner that isn't installed on your machine. Here's two ways to do that: one, if your antivirus allows it (and most of them do these days), follow its instructions and make an antivirus recovery disk. This is a bootable disk that scans your system before Windows loads.

To use one, put it in your CD tray and restart your machine. A plain-text sentence will appear telling you to "press any key to boot from CD..." (if you don't see this, click here.) When you see it, hit your spacebar or, well, any other key, and then follow the instructions. When it's finished, remove the CD and restart your machine again.
[note: you may also use a properly prepared USB thumb drive. Click here to read my article on how to do that.]

A second method is to use an online scanner. I have a list, with links, of several good online scans on my Website, here. Quite a few of the online scanning tools will try to sell you their full application, but you're under no obligation to buy. The big advantage to these two methods lies in the fact that they have not been compromised, or altered, and the files and scanners on your machine may be-- the modification being done by the virus or hacker.

Another thing to do is scroll down to my "Today's free link" and download HiJack This! Run it and dump the result into a .txt file (there's instructions for this) and then register on one of the HiJack This! forums (there's instructions for this too) and post your results there. Before too long, an expert anti-malwareologist [don't bother looking: I just now made that word up] will have looked over the intricacies, and will post his analysis and instructions. These guys (and gals) are really, really good at what they do, and you can trust their answers.

Also run CheckDisk with the "r" "f" switches (this probably will require a reboot) to make sure the problem is not your hard drive.
Click on Start >Programs >Accessories >Command prompt. In the white-on-black window type "chkdsk /r /f" (no quotes, and be sure to include the spaces). You may be told that certain files are in use, and asked if you want to "schedule this at the next reboot Y/N?" Type in a "y" and restart your machine.

Hopefully these efforts will be rewarded with a rejuvenation of your machine, and you will be back in business again.  If not, you have my sympathy. You may have a rootkit and then your best solution is to re-format your hard drive and reinstall everything, or enlist the aid of a professional

Today's free link: HijackThis™ is a free utility which quickly scans your Windows computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. HijackThis does not clean infections, but creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan. A large community of users participates in online forums, where experts help interpret the scan results to clean up infected computers.

Copyright © 2007-8 Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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EIGHT
Police in Radnor, Pa. interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message 'He's lying' was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the 'lie detector' was working, the suspect confessed.

Gmail will give users the option of enabling "mail goggles", which, during the peak drunk hours of the week (Friday at 3 a.m., for example), will activate and force users to solve simple math problems before they can send their letter. Thus attempting to stop drunken users from e-mailing their ex's about how much they love them/how horrible they are.

That is a feature I may consider using.

Just kidding! You can stay as long as you want! I just said that because it's the topic of today's post: free trials.

I have downloaded a few free trials for my Mac recently; Notebook, MacJournal and a game called Hordes Of Orcs. In fact, I'm using MacJournal right now to type this!

I found Hordes Of Orcs a little boring. It's very repetitive and I just got tired of watching the same thing happening on every level.

I'm still trying Notebook, but from what I've seen of it, it's really good! I don't think I'll be paying the $50 (£28.66) to purchase the full version. At least, not until I have a real need for it other than playing.

Finally, MacJournal. This is the first time I have used it, typing this post, so I have no idea whether it's a good-un or not. I'll have to wait and use my seven days to find out.

I'll post back later with the test results!

Install DK Milter:

# wget http://switch.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/dk-milter/dk-milter-1.0.1.tar.gz
decompress:
# tar xvzf dk-milter-1.0.1.tar.gz
install libraries:
# apt-get install openldap-utils
Compiling:
# cd dk-milter-1.0.1
# cp site.config.m4.dist devtools/Site/site.config.m4
# sh Build
# sh Build install

Generate public key:

# openssl genrsa -out rsa.private 768
# openssl rsa -in rsa.private -out rsa.public -pubout -outform PEM
Move your private key to the domainkeys directory:
# mv rsa.private /var/db/domainkeys/mail.key.pem

YOUR RSA PUBLIC KEY VALUE:
You can find your public RSA key value  in /var/db/domainkeys/mail.key.pem between:
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

without break lines and spaces.

configure sendmail:

copy the line below under LOCAL_DOMAIN on /etc/mail/sendmail.mc:
INPUT_MAIL_FILTER(`dk-filter', `S=inet:8891@localhost')

rebuild sendmail:
# sendmailconfig

start domain key-milter:

#/usr/bin/dk-filter -l -p inet:8891@localhost -d domain1.com, domain2.com -s /var/db dkim/default.key.pem -S default

Note: To add a new domain you must kill the dk-filter process and run the above comand again:

Example:
ps aux | grep dk-filter
Kill pid_number

restart sendmail:
# /etc/init.d/sendmail restart

In your domain provider control panel create the 3 following TXT records:

SPF record for Gmail:
@                   v=spf1 ip4:YOUR_SERVER_IP/24 include:blackberry.com ptr:blackberry.com ~all

DOMAIN KEYS:
mail._domainkey          k=rsa; t=y; p=YOUR_RSA_PUBLIC_KEY_VALUE

_domainkey                  o=~; r=your_email





THAT'S ALL!!!

If you find any problem is because you don't know how to cut and paste...

Webdesign Marbella | Fotos Divertidas

From Wikipedia:

Yep, that sounds like me. As of yet i don't think it's been classified as a disease or a syndrome, but i have to believe it is an addiction. The need to be connected, informed, and for some reason to make others aware of what you are doing is driving a change in how we interact with each other and does to some extent, go back to an earlier post about safety and providing too much information about yourself. Aside from the safety issues with regards to identity theft there is also the sheer amount of network traffic being generated by numerous people with the need to let everyone know they are pumping gas, going to the store, twiddling their thumbs clockwise now instead of counter-clockwise... etc. This information bogs down the internet and servers which is already getting bogged down by spam and the forwarding and reforwarding of email jokes and the like. We have become a society of virtual polluters, spewing forth anything and everything that crosses our minds in the hopes that someone may find it interesting.

I guess i kinda got off topic there a bit, i have a habit of doing that - non-linear thinking - i blame the welsh side of the family for that, but again i digress... My point is this, we are a society that has the ability to stay in contact at all times, which from a safety standpoint is a good thing. You are driving and have an accident, you can call someone for help on your cel. You are heading to a meeting and its cancelled - you can be alerted via txt message or email and not waste time, money and natural resources, GPS's alert you to upcoming traffic problems, road closures, etc, the benefits are nearly endless. The thing is, do we need to be so connected and is it stressing us out when we are not? A friend asked me last week if i could live without computers. Without a pause i replied, No. Sadly i think most of society is the same, we are very dependent on computers for so much in our lives, and as the world becomes more connected and technology allows us to take those same connections and information along with us mobily we are never spending any time alone anymore. Remember the old days of driving in the car, basically cut off from the world and just listening to the radio? no cel phones, no txt messages, just you and the occupants of the car and the open road. Sure its nice to know what is going on, and i for one do feel stressed when i am not carrying my crackberry with me, but i think i may just try and spend a little more time without it and try to enjoy the world around me, at least as much as i can see of it with my eyes and hear with my ears - i bet there is life going on all around me and i don't need to watch it on a lcd screen.

Interestingly, Hyperconnectivity is also defined as... "Hyperconnectivity is used in medical terminology to explain billions and billions of neurons creating excessive connections, within the brain associated with schizophrenia"

Excessive connections. Yep, thats me too. Not the schizophrenia part, at least i don't think so, let me ask my other selves and see what they say as soon as they stop checking their email and texting.  And yes, i see the irony in writing about excessive connectivity in a blog, so you can hold off on those comments, thanks. Now, i'm off to take a walk in the yard with the dogs, they seem to get along just fine with only their senses, although i swear my one dog keeps looking at pictures on the internet, how else do you explain the bookmarks i keep finding?

tcg

First lets start with viruses themselves. Better yet, lets call them all MALWARE since spyware, adware and trojans all can infect and mess up your computer. Broke down simply, it is a computer program designed to destroy information, gather information, become a nuisance...or just to be malicious and destroy your hard drive. They (who are they) say that there are over 3500 new viruses or malware springing up every day. Their only intent is to cause some sort of harm.

The usual ways that these malware programs come into your machine is primarally by YOU!!! Not to scare you too much but here are some ways that this happens:

Email Attachments-DO NOT OPEN attachments unless you know the person or source. Be very sure you don't get fooled by FAKES (SPOOF MAIL) either. Pay attention to how things are spelled and laid out. Close is not close enough

SPOOF WEBSITES- They almost look real but they are NOT. www.ebay.com is a well known website....www.1ebay.com is NOT.

DOWNLOADING- yes, i have been know to download items that even I should be wary of. Remember if you download it...you are permitting whatever it is to come into your system...weather music or movies or free whatever...if you don't trust it, don't do it! and if you do it....don't trust it....lol.

There are a bunch more ways to get malware into your system but just wanted to get you to start thinking and ask me questions. Let me answer the question that I started to ask a bit ago.

WHY? I have anti-virus and I should be protected. I spent a fortune and I still get viruses.......WHY?

First, there is NOTHING out there that can guarantee you a 100% that you will be protected. Yes, some anti-viruses are better than others and yes free doesn't always mean bad....but...imagine with me for a moment....

I am a smart, lonely, pre-teen/teenager and am tired of playing video games at home. I can put together a computer in my sleep and my bedroom is already networked with multiple servers and computers that I put together with my buddies. We all played every game, already know a ton about networking. What I need is mental stimulation and a little fun trouble...I know, I will manipulate some computer codes...lets see what this does. Wait, lets download a spammer and mail it to everyone we know (or maybe know and don't like)...oh and let's attach a worm so that it attaches to the computer's address book and more people can be harmed.

How many smart kids you think are out there? Plus, that is just one scenario I am laying out.

Computer viruses are being made in droves EVERY DAY....and the makers of most anti-virus try to maintain that...but it is impossible. One may come out today and infect today and then may be recognized by the  anti-virus program tomorrow...but it still infected someone.

Remember, there are over 26 million recognized viruses out there....and a lot more to be made and a lot more to destroy.

Again, I write to ask you to write me and ask questions. We can all learn together!

Til next time,

Tara

Zgodnie z rozkładem, pierwszy transport produktów IT przejechał ponad 10,000 km koleją z Chin do Niemiec i wjechał dzisiaj do Hamburga w stanie nienaruszonym! Dzięki DB Shenker jedna podróż umożliwiła zmniejszenie emisji CO2 o 2200 ton w porównaniu do transportu lotniczego.

Dzięki 20-sto letniemu doświadczeniu oraz implementacjom innowacyjnych rozwiązań ekologicznych, wiodący producent “zielonego” IT – firma Fujitsu Siemens Computers - wprowadził w życie wykorzystanie transeurazjatyckiego mostu kolejowego jako przyjaznej środowisku alternatywy dla transportu lotniczego.

Dla Fujitsu Siemens Computers przewiezienie systemów typu barebone oraz monitorów LCD z południowych Chin do europejskich centrów produkcji i następnie dystrybucja na terenie Niemiec to doskonałe rozwiązanie optymalizujące czas dostawy, koszty oraz troskę o środowisko. Emisja CO2 zaoszczędzona dzięki zastąpieniu samolotu pociągiem jest równoznaczna z 10,000,000 kilometrami prywatnych podróży samochodem.

Marzenie o ekologicznym pociągu zostało zrealizowane dzięki logistycznemu wsparciu firmy DB Shenker, która współpracowała z operatorami kolejowymi w Polsce, Białorusi, Rosji, Mongolii i Chinach w celu skoordynowania tej epickiej podróży. Pociąg wyruszył 19 września w Xiangtang w południowych Chinach obierając za cel Hamburg, przekraczając pięć granic. Postęp pociągu w trakcie podróży był śledzony dzięki technologii GPS, z nieustannym monitoringiem i rejestrowaniem temperatury oraz wstrząsów w 50 szczelnie zamkniętych kontenerach. Hans Erbe, Dyrektor ds zarządzania zapleczem logistycznych w Fujitsu Siemens Computers komentuje “Możemy obserwować dokładną pozycję pociągu, a nawet wykryć kiedy poszczególne kontenery przejeżdżają przez łączenia torów. Komponenty i monitory były dobrze zapakowane i bezpiecznie zniosły wszelkie wstrząsy.”
Pociąg w Hamburgu przywitał Bernd Bischoff, przewodniczący i CEO Fujitsu Siemens Computers oraz Norbert Bensel, Przewodniczący DB Shenker i członek zarządu DB Mobility Logistics AG. Fujitsu Siemens Computers planuje nawiązać współpracę z DB Shenker w celu organizowania regularnych dostaw na podobieństwo tej pierwszej. Firma byłaby wówczas pierwszym producentem, który wykorzysta trans-eurazjatyckie dostawy przy użyciu najbardziej ekologicznego środka transportu w celu zredukowania emisji CO2

Jeszcze dziś pociąg wyruszy do stacji docelowych - monitory mają trafić do europejskiego centrum dystrybucji FSC w Worms, a obudowy do fabryki Fujitsu Siemens Computers w Augsburgu, gdzie składane są PC i serwery. Około 60 procent produkcji Fujitsu Siemens Computers odbywa się w Niemczech.

Kluczowe wydarzenia w trakcie podróży pociągu, jak również zdjęcia oraz mapy są dostępne pod adresem www.transeurasiablog.com

Analysis: With their annual "Hype Cycle" reports, Gartner usually does a solid job of tracking over-optimistic assessments of the "latest and greatest" in technology and calling out overly hyped "hot new tech" and providing realistic assessments of the projected future of trends in software, hardware, and business processes.

Sometimes, Gartner slips up, and falls prey to the error they ascribe to others.  That's the only interpretation I can make on a curious blog posting on an official Gartner blog designed to promote their new book "Mastering the Hype Cycle: Choosing the Right Innovation at the Right Time."  Mark Raskino, the book's co-author with longtime analyst Jackie Fenn, argues that "We have to simplify the business proposition behind this ‘big shift’,  explain it well and socialize it deeply to convince non-tech business leaders to buy-in." 

Mr. Raskino makes clear that he wants to babytalk these business-side executives into believing "a little cloud hype" because, in his words, IT leaders and CIOs "need help explaining the fundamental change."

I haven't read the book; it may be a fine work with other (more valuable) insights. After all, it's published by Harvard Business Press; here's the Amazon page for it, you can read it and judge for yourself, as I likely will. But this blog posting is an official one on Gartner's own site, promoting their book by their analysts, so the firm bears accountability for this curious approach.

In the blog posting, Mr. Raskino sums up his case on "hyping the buzz" about cloud computing as follows:

It’s too simplistic to say cloud hype is bad. If we are technically expert is might irritate us with its breadth and abstraction, but we are not the only audience.  Somehow the idea has to  cross the corridor into other business departments and that’s just as likely to be via a Business Week article or even (dare I say it?) an airline in-flight magazine.  Whether we like it or not, repeatedly promoting a basic collective term through broader media has a long history of overcoming corporate resistance and inertia in ways IT departments can’t do alone. ‘The cloud’ is a BIG idea, its a reasonable visual metaphor and most of all its not an acronym.  It may not be perfect, but if it captures the imaginations of a broader audience of decision makers we should cut it some slack. 

My opinion is that the technology of cloud services is developing at a blistering pace, and adoption rates are incrementally moving along at an appropriately lagged step behind the technology.  Perhaps we need to clarify our definitions of words like "hype" and "buzz," and more importantly distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate "technical education."

Marketing the promise of cloud services is fine; intentionally "hyping" the technology is unnecessary and will be counterproductive. Why on earth does Mr. Raskino think technologies wind up going through a "trough of disillusionment" on Gartner's own hype cycle?  Is that now supposed to be a desirable thing?

Ah, got that off my chest. Feels better. Breathing deeply, calming down, taking the long view.  In fact, taking the long view is something I advise to those (like Mr. Raskino) who are too focused on hyping technology's advance, not building it.  Here's a suggestion: look back several years and read something you wrote about the future, and see what lessons you can learn from history and your attempt to predict it.

An enjoyable read along those lines is the legendary Charles Simonyi's piece from this summer, "Programmers at Work: Follow Up."  Simonyi (of Xerox PARC, early Microsoft, and space tourism fame) reflects on an interview from two decades ago, with some fascinating observations about advances in programming languages and practices, software, education, aviation... it's a thought-provoking read from an entertainingly complex fellow. (Maybe that's what Martha Stewart saw in him for the 20 years they dated.)

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By "intelligent" I mean a "human" level intelligence that is capable of thought and conversation with a human tester who can neither tell if he/she was talking to a machine or another human.

Such a test for the machine to pass is called a 'Turing Test', which was first proposed by Alan Turing in 1950. Turing was a pioneer in computer science and was instrumental in breaking the Enigma Code during WWII.

However on October 12 this coming Sunday at the University of Reading, six artificial intelligence programs are to to examined via the Turing test to determine whether AI programs have progressed to the point where a human tester can't tell the difference between a conversation with a machine and a human:

In the Turing test a machine seeks to fool judges into believing that it could be human. The test is performed by conducting a text-based conversation on any subject. If the computer's responses are indistinguishable from those of a human, it has passed the Turing test and can be said to be "thinking".

No machine has yet passed the test devised by Turing, who helped to crack German military codes during the Second World War. But at 9am next Sunday, six computer programs - "artificial conversational entities" - will answer questions posed by human volunteers at the University of Reading in a bid to become the first recognised "thinking" machine. If any program succeeds, it is likely to be hailed as the most significant breakthrough in artificial intelligence since the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. It could also raise profound questions about whether a computer has the potential to be "conscious" - and if humans should have the 'right' to switch it off.

Professor Kevin Warwick, a cyberneticist at the university, said: "I would say now that machines are conscious, but in a machine-like way, just as you see a bat or a rat is conscious like a bat or rat, which is different from a human. I think the reason Alan Turing set this game up was that maybe to him consciousness was not that important; it's more the appearance of it, and this test is an important aspect of appearance."

The six computer programs taking part in the test are called Alice, Brother Jerome, Elbot, Eugene Goostman, Jabberwacky and Ultra Hal. Their designers will be competing for an 18-carat gold medal and $100,000 offered by the Loebner Prize in Artificial Intelligence.

The test will be carried out by human "interrogators", each sitting at a computer with a split screen: one half will be operated by an unseen human, the other by a program. The interrogators will then begin separate, simultaneous text-based conversations with both of them on any subjects they choose. After five minutes they will be asked to judge which is which. If they get it wrong, or are not sure, the program will have fooled them. According to Warwick, a program needs only to make 30 per cent or more of the interrogators unsure of its identity to be deemed as having passed the test, based on Turing's own criteria.

I like the analogy Professor Warwick uses in describing "consciousness" in the programs, "...conscious in a machine-like way, just as you see a bat or a rat is conscious like a bat or rat...".

There is wisdom in that, if an AI program did become sentient, would it be 'conscious' like a human, or would it act like its nature implies?

I suppose it would mean whether one believes consciousness requires sentience, or that sentience requires consciousness.

Here are some links to posts by various people who have opinions and possible answers to such questions.

As for yours truly, I think consciousness is overrated, but the death of my ego leaves me a little unnerved!

'Intelligent' computers put to the test

Dr. Michio Kaku interview at the Daily Grail

Physical Basis for Problems

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"When the madness stops!"

My Computer is still totally fucked....

It was fixed, then I touched it...and now it's totally fucked again. Thanks God

that's all I want to say right now really.

- The Valiant Knight

This is a computer NOT a mirror ! I cannot stand the shiny screens that are standard with most laptops available today ! Other than the screen I'm sure this is a very good computer, but for me the reflecting screen is an automatic NO GO ! More information about this computer can be found here: Customer Image Gallery for HP 2133-KR922UT 8.9-inch Mini-Note PC (C7-M 1.0 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB Flash Drive, Linux)