Web Mobs - Organized crime has come to the Internet. According to John McCormick and Deborah Gage, of Baseline, "They operate under names such as carderplanet, stealthdivision, darkprofits and the shadowcrew. They buy and sell millions of credit card numbers, social security numbers and identification documents, typically for less than 10 bucks apiece. And they create sites and services to breed more skilled, like-minded organizations." Howard Schmidt, the chief security strategist for eBay and a former cybersecurity adviser to the White House adds that "By promoting and facilitating credit card fraud and identity theft, these groups can shatter the online trust companies have established with their customers ... because they destroy confidence in the Internet. If McDonald's has well-lit restaurants and the best food and the best prices, but people get mugged in the parking lot, they won't go there."

Sorry Howard Stern - Goodbye TIVO - Mike Rogers, writer and producer, who has worked in mass media for 30 years, predicts a giant shift in how the general public will interact with radio and TV in the next few years and, no, it doesn't have anything to do with satellite radio or TIVO. In fact Rogers insists that that these relatively new products are doomed before they really get embraced by a wider audience. "It doesn't matter if we are talking about satellite radio, satellite TV, cable, FM radio, or even multi-media TV and radio conglomerates such as Clear Channel. They all have a decidedly dim future." Why? This month a new product will become available, starting in Japan. According to Rogers, "It's called HDD DVD. That would translate into 'Hard drive disk, digital video disk.' At first glance, this might look a bit like TIVO – [the] popular hard disk recorder ...– but HDD DVD is much more – or much less – depending on how you look at it."

Finding Innovative Talent - According to Timothy Faley of CIO Magazine, "Companies that need innovation must somehow find the innovators to bring it about. ... This entrepreneurial skill-set and mindset can be applied to businesses of any size, but they are most readily developed in the fiery crucible of high growth-potential innovative startup businesses. This suggests that a prime source of innovative entrepreneurs is the pool of people that have startup business experience. Unfortunately, it is not always clear how to interpret the backgrounds of those with small or startup company experiences in a large-company framework. Large corporate managers are comfortable assessing the progress, and therefore the potential, of individuals in organizations like their own. The frustration and misunderstanding in assessing the potential of innovators from different backgrounds makes it challenging for these larger entities to identify the innovators that they so sorely need. ... This is where Einstein's theory of relativity can help."

Forty Years of Moore's Law - Forty years ago, Electronics Magazine asked Intel co-founder Gordon Moore to write an article summarizing the state of the electronics industry. Moore noted that the number of devices (which then included transistors and resistors) inside chips was doubling every year, largely because engineers could shrink the size of transistors. That meant that the performance and capabilities of semiconductors was growing exponentially and would continue to. In 1975, Moore amended the law to state that the number of transistors doubled about every 24 months. So, after 40 years, does the law still apply?

Anthropology applied to Software is the key to its Success - Find out how you can ensure that your software project will be a success by studying the concept of Anthropology, yes, Anthropology. 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 April 21!

We're a hit in Manila! Although most all companies now have a website, managers really need to understand how to get the most out of them. For instance, how many IT managers really look closely at their web traffic statistics? There is real money to be made if you they know how to interpret them. For instance, they might be very surprised to learn that their web content is reaching markets in far off lands where it was never targeted. Take a look at how a company called Friendster capitalized on its unexpected luck in attracting a Philippine audience.

VoIPs call for Help - Remember when Satellite TV first came out and some people signed up for it not realizing that they couldn't tune in to their local TV stations? Well, it appears that something most people take for granted may be missing from some VoIP phone services as well. Many people are racing to sign up for one of these new plans in an effort to save tons of money on long distance calls. But what they may not realize is that 911 service may be unavailable. Imagine if you are 17-year old Joyce Johns -- whose parents had just been shot in the living room of their home and heard the following message when she tried to dial 911. "Stop," the voice began. "You must dial 911 from another telephone; 911 is not available from this telephone line. No emergency personnel will be dispatched. Please, hang up and dial 911 from a different phone."

Digital Environmentalism - Robert Boynton does an excellent job in summarizing the complicated topic of copyright considerations in the 21st century. Take for instance these comments about his own article, "If you're reading [it] on the Internet, you are allowed to link to it, but are prohibited from duplicating it on your web site or chat room without permission. You are free to make copies of it for teaching purposes, but aren't allowed to sell those copies to your students without permission." Understanding the nuances of copyright law, including the Sonny Bono Act, should keep you from unintentionally getting into trouble in today's electronic information age.

Great Classes at Affordable Prices.  - The Menlo Spring 2005 class schedule is out.  Spring is here and its finally starting to get a little warmer outside. So sign up for a Menlo class. We'll provide the coffee and donuts. Now you have no excuse not to learn the real secrets of software success. 

Need a Speaker for an Upcoming Event? - We love public speaking (Rich Sheridan is the best) 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 a list of some of the topics that we've spoken about in the past.