Tuesday, January 31, 2006

President George Bush State of the Union Address

President Bush emphasized two key points in the beginning of The State of the Union Address. First was leadership and the second was freedom. He spoke of the importance of international relations. How America in the past has been the leader in helping countries to establish their freedoms and how this support continues in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also pointed out how there is still much work to be done in regards to freedom pointing to Syria and North Korea. The President talked about the importance of continuing international trade, but did not touch on the extreme trade deficits in favor of China and other countries currently. I was only able to see the first part of the address. So, other key points will have to be left for others to comment on. Overall the President seemed optimistic about the current State of the Union but not excited.

Monday, January 30, 2006

At the speed of Blog: Information Overload

Information overload! Never before have we had as much access to as much information as we due today on the internet. Newsgroups, email, vmail, chat, social websites, news aggregators, blogs, podcasting, vlogs, and vod are all contributors to the vast amounts of data available. Scott Converse the CEO of Clickcaster.com described his “overload from data from the blogosphere” in his blog. With so much data and information available, new tools must now be developed to help us search, organize and disseminate relevant data and information we are interested in and need.

Google is great for searching the web but still has a lot of white noise not related to what the public is interested in finding. Even with the Google personalization, relevant and great information is being buried in the billions of results from a search. Technorati is great for searching 26.6 millions blogs, but has the same issues as Google. del.icio.us is a great site for book marking and tags, but is in its infancy. Savvy internet users can not afford to waste time reading through countless numbers of websites, articles and blogs searching for what is needed. Relevancy and organization are two keys that must be implemented in the next generation of web apps. Users need a fast and convenient way to pinpoint relevant information in the massive amount of data now available.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

20th Challenger Anniversary

On a personal note:

Commander Francis R. Scobee (Dick) (2), Commander of the Challenger Shuttle Mission and his wife June were friends of the family. Dick and June gave me a Tiger bear when I was very young. It came with a wind up music box inside that had to be removed in a delicate operation. Also, Mom had to sew new ears on Tiger 3 or 4 different times. Tiger has very realistic green eyes that are piercing. I still have Tiger and I will post a picture soon. Much thanks to the Scobees for Tiger and for thier sacrifices for our country.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

President Hinkley is in our Prayers

The news of President Hinkley's hospitalization for cancer has just reached me via a Blog. Our Love, Prayers, and Thoughts go out for him and his extended family. Read more here:

Hospitalized Mormon leader said 'resting'

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Outsourcing America

Outsourcing in America occurs for a few reasons. The willfull competitive reasons are financial and logistical. The unwillfull reason is due to the natural selection of better companies. Both Ford and Daimler Chrysler are going to have incremental layoffs resulting in a 30,000 loss in manufacturing at Ford and a 3,000 loss in adminstration at Daimler Chrysler. IT jobs are going to India. Manufacturing jobs are going to China. Thank goodness for Walmart or we wouldn't have any jobs left in America.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Life After Death

What is it about the phenomenon of life after death that fascinates people and influences so much heated debate? Is the fascination of this phenomenon due to its shielding behind the veil of death? Is this a religious debate or a human debate?

To believe in life after death requires faith, the belief in something not seen or experienced. To disbelieve in life after death also requires faith. To not care at all is due to a lack of curiosity or disinterest.

To find the answers people look to science, religion, or inward. The answer remains a mystery to science, because science is limited to physical boundaries. The answer remains a source of debate between religious sects stemming from different belief systems. The answer to life after death remains a personal conclusion and one thing is for sure. Everyone finds out in the end, because nobody is getting out of here alive.

I am curious what you think. Please leave a comment.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Threat of Terror in the Heartland of America

Terror is a word too common in all societies now. With the recent al-qaeda terror message on 1-19-2006 offering truce and predicting imminent attack, one can wonder what big event could be a potential target. What is a larger than life event in the near future? Easy to notice the Super Bowl will be held in Detroit February 5th 2006. Hard to notice any media stories related to the potential for terrorist attack at the Super Bowl.

My compliments to the major networks for not exploiting public fear and raising anxiety about unfounded terrorist attacks; however, we are living in a post 911 world and the threat for an attack in the heart or heartland of America has been relayed. The al-qaeda message is not a threat that should be taken lightly, nor should people live in a state of fear or panic. Living in fear would be exactly what the terrorists would like. On the contrary, people should go about doing the things they want and need to do while being alert, mindful, and vigilant of strangers and surroundings.

I am curious what you think. Please leave a comment.

Thanks