Newsletter


	Back to the Future - Here's SiliconValley.com's annual look into a crystal ball for technology trends in 2006. Never mind that the smartest people in tech wouldn't dare make serious predictions about what innovations will catch fire next year. They make a humble try anyway. So here they are, the upcoming trends in video, cell phone technology, the internet, business offices and biotechnology. Also, PCWorld takes a look back at the top fifty gadgets of the last 50 years. How many of these wonders have you owned?

	Click Fraud - Stuart Cauff launched a charter-jet service in Miami Beach back in 2002. Being a 21st-century business, JetNetwork advertised on the Internet, especially on search engines. Anyone who Googled, say, "air charter Miami" would be greeted with the familiar list of search results and, in a separate place, a plain box of text with a blue hyperlink to JetNetwork's web site. Potential customers would then click on the link and be taken to a relevant page on Cauff's web site. Using Google Adwords or a similar type of online advertising has gone from nothing five years ago to big business today. However, a problem, once relatively minor, is becoming much more prevalent lately - bogus clicks. Cauff was infuriated when he discovered that up to "40 percent, maybe more" of the clicks on his keyword ads apparently came not from potential customers around the nation but from a single Internet address, one that belonged to a rival based in New York City.

	Agile Boot Camp – We had such a great time in January, we’ve decided to do it again in March! Three of Menlo's most popular courses (Agile Explained, HTA 101, and Agile Project Management) are being rolled into a single week -- think you're strong enough to make it to the end? What did the January attendees think about the experience? Well, we hate to blow our own horn, but here are just two testimonials: "This workshop was fascinating and informative. It sparked tons of ideas, and I also made valuable connections with other participants. Highly recommended." and "Easily, this was best class/seminar I've taken. You can apply what you learn at Menlo right away, instead of having to drag through literature and trying to remember what a speaker said weeks/months ago. Go Menlo!" It's enough to make us blush! If you'd like to know what these folks are talking about, register today!

	Blue Skies Ahead for IT Jobs? - Maria Klawe, writer for CIO magazine, states the case that contrary to popular belief, career opportunities in computer science are at an all-time high. She wants us all to spread that message to students from all backgrounds, or the U.S. will risk becoming a technological backwater. She writes that "the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labor show that the number of computing-related jobs has surpassed the previous peak in 2000. What is more, computing-related jobs are no longer an isolated component of American industries; IT underpins every function of the business community—market research, product design, finance, strategic planning, environmental issues—every aspect of doing and leading. That means these jobs are not only vital but fun." Readers to CIO magazine, however, tend to disagree that the outlook for IT careers is so rosy. So, where do you stand?

	Better Usability is the Key to Success - Most folks tend to find MS Excel just fine for creating financial spreadsheets. However since Excel is so readily available, many business folks will use it for other tasks such as modeling. But as the models become more complex, Excel can become more difficult to use. Companies like Quantrix are exploiting this weakness with good success. "Bryan Babineau of software developer Citrix Systems Inc. uses the Quantrix application to build revenue models. Babineau, financial-planning manager for the online division of the Fort Lauderdale-based company, says he likes how the program separates the presentation of a model from its logic and structure. 'In Excel, we had to painstakingly lock certain cells to make sure that people didn't accidentally change the formulas or type over them,' he says. With Quantrix, Babineau says, formulas are stored in a separate sheet that's kept away from a user." Usability and simplicity have been key to Quantrix's success.

	Menlo's Free Seminar on Software Development Techniques - It's the start of a new year. Before you embark on the next major software development initiative, learn the secrets that can ensure its success. Come to our next free 90 minute "Taste of Success" seminar focused on High-Tech Anthropology®. Our approach will show you techniques for creating the right software for the right application. We encourage you to share your software development war stories so we can all learn from them. See you on February 16!

	Information Overload - Books are being scanned to make them searchable on the Internet. Television broadcasts are being recorded and archived for online posterity. Radio shows, too, are getting their digital conversion -- to podcasts. With a few keystrokes, we'll soon be able to tap much of the world's knowledge. And we'll do it from nearly anywhere -- already, newer iPods can carry all your music, digital photos and such TV classics as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" along with more contemporary prime-time fare. Will all this instantly accessible information make us much smarter, or simply more stressed? When can we take a break to think about, absorb and ponder all this data?

	Moving Beyond "Shoot 'Em up"- Most computer games require dexterity, concentration and the ability to think strategically - all great qualities that help children to learn. But success in winning many of these games rides on your ability to find your way out of trouble by force, usually with guns blazing. But the gaming world is starting to change. New games are starting to emerge where for instance, you must organize a peaceful protest against a dictator, shepherd supplies to hungry refugees, or lead "first responders" during a local catastrophe. "Food Force" is a free online game from the United Nations World Food Program that sends children ages 8 to 13 on six realistic aid missions. It's learning by doing and it has already been downloaded more than 2.5 million times.

	Designing the Future - Anne Underwood, of Newsweek, interviews William McDonough, a leading ecological architect whose goal is nothing less than to eliminate waste and pollution. He's not your traditional environmentalist either. Others may expend their energy fighting for stricter environmental regulations and repeating the mantra "reduce, reuse, recycle." McDonough's vision for the future includes factories so safe they need no regulation, and novel, safe materials that can be totally reprocessed into new goods, so there's no reason to scale back consumption (or lose jobs). In short, he wants to overhaul the Industrial Revolution.

	Flatlanders Unite - Where were you when the world went flat? Maybe you've missed it, but Thomas L. Friedman's book -- The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century -- is setting the world on fire. He believes there are ten "great levelers", events that have equalized the world of global business and resulted in a flattening of the world. What are they exactly? Some of them just might surprise you.

	The Art of Project Management - The User Group Network News Service recently reviewed the book The Art of Project Management by Scott Berkun. The reviewer writes, "Berkun shares a lively, inspiring, and pragmatic approach to managing projects that draws on hard lessons learned from more than a decade of work in the industry." According to Berkun, "People work on projects all the time, and many of them fail, often spectacularly. The ones that don't fail are often frustrating experiences for everyone involved. It doesn't have to be this way. Any business, especially software development organizations, can lead projects without making people miserable. In fact if they follow the advice in the book, it might even be fun."

	Smart ways to Spend a few Days this Winter - On these cold winter mornings, what better way to warm up then with a nice hot coffee, a warm donut, and a Menlo class? Our new class schedule is out, with everything from our Agile Project Management class to our very own Taste of Success seminars. They're the hottest way to learn the real secrets of software success.

	Happy Birthday, Mr. Edison - In honor of Thomas A. Edison's 159th birthday, we're hosting an open house at Menlo Innovations, 212 N. 4th Ave. in Ann Arbor, Michigan on February 10th, from 9:00-4:00 p.m. (We know his birthday is actually on the 11th, but sometimes even we take a day off!) We're opening our doors for the day -- feel free to stop in, talk to Rich Sheridan, meet The Frau, stroll through the Factory, watch our teams at work, and help us blow out 159 candles (+ 1 more for good luck) in honor of our inspiration!

	Need a Speaker for an Upcoming Event? - We love public speaking and are happy to deliver inspiring messages focused on business success with information technology. Call us at (734) 665-1847 to schedule your next event. Look here for our current speaking engagements and a list of some topics that we’ve spoken about in the past.