Conmergence

2008 Fiber To The Home Conference & Expo September 21 - 25, 2008 Gaylord Opryland® Resort & Convention Center, Nashville, TN

<ed.note>The conference's theme is "Linking Communities at the Speed of Light" but more intriguing to me is the the scheduled appearance of Don Tapscott (The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will Revolutionize Business, Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs, Creating Value in the Networked Economy, Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Creating Wealth in the Era of E-Business, Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence, Who Knows: Safeguarding Your Privacy in a Networked World, Paradigm Shift: The New Promise of Information Technology)  adreessing his latest work, Wikinomics How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Implicit in Tapscott's writings is management's buy-in of the distrubuted digital enterprise-enabled results-only collaborative work environment. If you happen to be one of those creatures (especially if you are from Nashville), I invite you to join the Linkedin.com Project Net-Work group and Technology Nashville.</ed.note>

Sunday, September 21, 2008
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Registration Opens
Monday, September 22, 2008
7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Registration Opens
8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Developer Panel Workshop  *Additional fee*
8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Home Networking Workshop  *Additional fee*
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.	Track Session - Series 100  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.	FTTH Executive Summit *By invitation only* Moderated by: Don Tapscott, Author
2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.	Track Session Series 200  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.	EXPO Grand Opening & Opening Reception *Open to all registered attendees*
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Registration Opens
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.	Opening General Session    *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only* Keynote Speaker - Don Tapscott, Author Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything Sponsored by: FTTH Council Awards Sponsored by: FTTxcellence Awards Sponsored by:
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.	Refreshment Break    *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
10:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.	Global Carrier Keynote Panel   *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	EXPO Hall Opens   *Open to all registered attendees*
12:00 noon - 2:00 p.m.	Luncheon in EXPO Hall  *Open to all registered attendees*
3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.	ITCo Panel  *Conference Pass attendees only*
3:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.	Track Session Series 300  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.	Track Session Series 400   *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
5:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.	Track Session Series 500   *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.	International attendee Reception   *By invitation only*
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.	Registration Open
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.	Government and Regulatory Panel
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.	Track Session Series 600  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.	Track Session Series 700  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.	Refreshment Break  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.	Track Session Series 800  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 a.m.	Panel Session Series 900  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.	On Own for Lunch
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.	EXPO Hall Opens
4:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.	Closing General Session with Keynote Speaker  *Conference Pass and Day Pass attendees only*
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.	EXTRAVAGANZA - Closing Reception with Entertainment *Additional fee* "Don't forget your dancing boots!"
Thursday, September 25, 2008
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.	Post Conference Workshops

Quocirca Reports on the Distributed Business Index

Businesses rely on widely distributed networks of workers, be they at HQ, in branch offices, mobile in the field or working at some other external location. Whilst the office continues to be seen as the primary place of work, more and more staff are spending at least part of their working week somewhere else. Certain employees have always needed to be on the move; today they are better connected but the availability of connectivity means that other jobs that were previously confined to offices can now also be done from afar, which also means they can be more easily outsourced to third parties. This report looks at the degree to which the 21st century workforce is distributed and the issues organisations have with enabling this.

Key Findings

• Branch offices: the majority of European businesses still operate with a traditional structure of a headquarters with a number of smaller branches
  The average number of locations for a business with over 1,000 employees is 33. In some sectors, like banking, this is decreasing; for others, like retail, it is increasing. In the future, carbon taxes may drive businesses to open smaller locations, relying on technology for collaboration between workers and reducing the distance that both employees and customers have to travel.
• Mobility: workers that have traditionally been on the move are better connected, and the communications technology used to enable this has freed others, such as those working in call centres, to work remotely too
  70% of businesses say at least 25% of their staff are working remotely for at least part of the week.
• Outsourcing: if an employee can do their job from afar then so can someone else; businesses are allowing greater access to third party workers than ever before
  Contractors, partners, suppliers and customers are all being given direct access to internal applications to automate transactions and allow day-to-day and non-core tasks to be outsourced.
• Distributed business index (DBI): taking these factors together-the enablement of branch, mobile and external workers-an index for the degree of distribution can be defined (see Appendix B)
  Financial services organisations are the most distributed, partly due to their high degree of external interaction, public sector ones the least. Retailers lie between the two; the big chains still rely on a large number of branches, despite the growth in internet shopping.
• User experience: all businesses worry about the experience of HQ workers, but highly distributed businesses put more effort into ensuring a good experience for remote workers
  Just worrying about the user experience is not enough. It must be measured, because the impact for organisations with a very high DBI, if access is unavailable for some reason, is palpable.
• Technology: a high proportion of information technology (IT) workers does not, in itself, create a distributed business; the technology first needs to be embedded in business processes
  Even businesses with low DBI have a high proportion of workers that use IT. But those with a high DBI see IT as fundamental to their business processes rather than being a "nice to have".
• Drivers for distribution: the three main drivers for enabling distributed working are business efficiency, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction
  As a whole, businesses are successful in providing the capabilities to support these drivers. For those with a low DBI, expectations are also low. However, those with the highest DBI, and are pushing distributed working to the limits, are not always able to meet their expectations.

CONCLUSION: There are many good reasons for enabling distributed working, but it will only succeed in the long term if there is a good enough underlying communications infrastructure. Businesses are unlikely to become less distributed in the future and those that embrace this reality will be the ones that thrive and endure. However, to succeed as a highly distributed business, and reap the benefits, requires that many business processes, such as supply chain management and customer support, are adapted to ensure they continue to operate optimally. Applications and a sufficient infrastructure should also be in place to support this.

House Committee Approves Telework Bill

March 18, 2008 by Ben Bain, fcw.com

Legislation that would force agencies to focus on their telework programs and expand them as well as establish governmentwide rules for federal telecommuting is on its way to the House Floor after the House Homeland Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved it by voice vote Mar. 13.

The Telework Improvements Act of 2007, introduced last November, would require agencies to allow authorized employees to telework at least 20 percent of the time during a two-week period. It would also require the General Services Administration, in consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, to be responsible for helping implement a telework policy by providing advice, assistance and guidance to agencies.

Is That A Chip In Your Arm or Are You Just Happy To See Me? [or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Telecommuting"]

<ed.note>One of the most influential guys in HIT, CareGroup CIO John Halamka, gives his take on the policies and technologies necessary for supporting flexible work arrangements (ROWE) at CIO.com. RE: the chip reference, see this.</ed.note>

Sun's James Ware on Why Your Stockholders Are Idiots If They Don't Force Your C-Suite To Implement "Net-Work" Enterprise-wide Yesterday

<ed.note>Or words to that effect...here.</ed.note>

Robin Chase (2007): a wireless-mesh device in every vehicle! [Update - was: Every Car A Wi-Fi Transceiver]

<ed.note>Here's a TED presentation from the founder of ZipCar on auto-based mesh networks.</ed.note>

From the A-Clue.com Archives of the week of December 22, 2003

Dana Blakenhorn helps by explaining the vision thing

<ed.note> Here in Tennessee, our Governor, Phil Bredesen, has announced, at the launch of a jobs program, funds would be available to "be used to develop a statewide broadband strategy". Since I'm more interested in the "strategy" (see my <Project.Net-Work/> category) than the funds, I'm "blogpaining" for involvement on the task force -- so please flame for me, flame for me.</ed.note>

Back when the bust was new, and new ideas by themselves were thought to be the cure for it, a friend told me of a great story from Mexico. A company making Wi-Fi set-ups would load them onto a Mexican trucking fleet, mainly to allow tracking of the fleet by a central station. But in the process they would deliver Wi-Fi service throughout rural Mexico.

Of course, the distances don't work. When you map the trucks' location to the location of people, you get a lot of service in the boondocks, and little where the people are. That's part of the nature of long-distance hauling. People don't like to live near it.

But alert a-clue.com reader Ed Dodds has a variation on that he's now pushing. Make every car in the U.S. a Wi-Fi transceiver. Do that, and you have a mesh network that does map to the population, because everyone has a car. It's not perfect, because when you turn your car off, it's off, and (in theory) so is the transceiver.

World's next outsourcing hub: Kenya?

The Kenyan government is pumping millions of dollars into improving the nation's outdated telecom industry.

<ed.note>I reiterate my harrangue for the Kenya Call Center Industry -- driving in to a call center to access the wiki and VOIP is missing the point. Rural telehealth and disease management will never reach its full potential if you can't develop a management structure which can trust remote workers -- or develop enough tech monitoring tools savvy to fake it. Just because the US keeps talking "green" but refuses to adopt ROWE doesn't mean the rest of the world has to repeat the mistake.</ed.note>

New technologies and innovation in higher education and regional development

According to the Academy of Finland and Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, there are two prominent driving forces in today’s global operating environment. The first is the trend towards increasing mobility; the second is the growing interdependence of different parts of the world, their increasing interaction and cooperation in the economy, production, social development, communications and human exchange. In today’s global and technological world, learning has become increasingly important to all people and all communities. It is widely understood that the most important skills of the future will be communication skills. Today, everyone is able to access vast amounts of data without a mediator. Critical thinking skills are needed as a productive and positive activity. Critical thinkers see the future as open and malleable, not as closed and fixed. As noted in the UNESCO Report on Knowledge Societies (2005), there is a general agreement on the appropriateness of the expression “knowledge societies”; the same cannot be said of the content. However we define the 21st century societies there are some trends that seem to have consequences in all spheres of life. Globalization and digitalization have fundamental consequences in educational and learning life, working life and in governance. The vision is a society which develops and utilizes the opportunities inherent in the information society to improve the quality of life, knowledge, international competitiveness and interaction in an exemplary, versatile and sustainable way. These ideas have been used to develop the Global University System (GUS) within the UNESCO Chair in global e-learning at the University of Tampere. Because of the importance of media and digital literacy and competencies, in 2007 the Government of Finland published a Proposal for an action programme for developing media skills and knowledge as part of the promotion of civil and knowledge society. The reason for setting up this committee was the topicality and importance of media education as part of citizenship skills and the problems encountered in its realization. Keywords higher education, Finland, universities and innovation, new technology in higher education, regional innovation

Tapio Varis, tapio.varis@uta.fi
Professor and Chair of Vocational Education, with particular reference to global learning environments, University of Tampere, Finland. UNESCO Chair in Global e-Learning, Professor and Chair of Vocational Education, with particular reference to global learning environments at the University of Tampere, Finland, Research Centre for Vocational Education, and UNESCO Chair in global e-Learning with applications to multiple domains. Principal research associate of UNESCO-UNEVOC. Acting President of Global University System (GUS). Former Rector of the University for Peace in Costa Rica. Expert on media and digital literacy to the European Union. Communication and Media Scholar at the University of Helsinki and the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. and the University of Lapland, Finland. Published approximately 200 scientific contributions.

Blogs a Radical Tool for Disability Community

<ed.note>A decade or so after the interweb becomes popular with the public it is discovered by "Big Advocacy". Let's see how long before they "discover" other centralizing data tools like community enabling content management, wikis and standardized financial metadata, taxonomies, etc. ( vs. "recommendations and principles" ) for NGO/NPO data interoperability purposes... A boy can dream. Of course, that's not to say that the corporate world "gets" this "meaningful data over a distributed, digital enterprise" approach, either. You oughtta ask yourself: "If it is true that 96% of firms fail within ten years, what are the 4 percent doing differently?"</ed.note>

Geolocking vs Wikis [ was Hobbs on Wharton on Wikis ]

<ed.note>Wharton@Work discovers blogs.   

Here's the Businessweek Wiki article du jour. Here are some thoughts on the opposing force -- geolocking jobs. Also see here.

Public Squares vs. Walled Gardens was one of the dichotomies mentioned in the Knowledge@Wharton piece. I argue the really significant question is -- is the wiki geolocked?:

Bill: The TN difficulty is the workplace which follows Wharton on wikis and Asinines ( the forgotten Greek philosopher ) on allocation -- workforce, that is. Making people commute in to access the wiki is missing the point. Here's hoping folks will allocate 20$ and buy themselves a clue!</ed.note>

Smart Phone Electronic Medical Record / Mobile Contactless Payment / Remote Monitoring, Developments Toward...

<ed.note>Since vendors are looking at remote monitoring for disease management I should list those as well. I'll also be on the look out for sensors which are car-based now that wi-fi is available in automobiles. There are some parallel developments which I guess I should mention: Major League Baseball and other event vendors as well as transportation providers and social networks are putting the cell phone closer to the center of their business models. ( Robert Neelbauer on social graphs here -- cells will eventually be tracked by them. ) Of course, on the other end of the spectrum is home automation.</ed.note>

Phillips (still using POTS lines)
Qualcomm
Nokia's Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco

Shout out to http://www.wirelesshealthcare.co.uk who usually gets these stories before anyone else.

The Tech Scene: Banking by Cell Phone - This Time It's for Real?,
Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology Jumps in Hospitals,

iPhone ? ? ? ( Remember Osirix ), icefirst, liferecord, Access, aKos, ARANZ Medical, Asia eHealth presentations, Banco do Brasil, Blackberry [2], Diebold, Docobo, ebay VOIP (Skype), Gemalto, Google [2][3][4], INSIDE Contactless, J/Speedy, mBlox, mFoundry, Microsoft, m-Wallet, Obopay, payWave, Mayo Clinic InTouch, NTT DoCoMo, PayPal Credit Card, Privium, Samsung, telSpace, Telzuit's Bio-Patch PDA,
Telemedicine & eHealth Directory 2005, Verisign, ViVOtech, FeliCa, [2], Mifare [2], NFC Forum, Blackberry, Ubuntu mobile, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications

UK plc’s next talent pool threatened as Realtime Generation vows to seek better work life balance abroad

• Survey suggests UK 13-17 year olds position UK plc ahead of US in race to become successful knowledge economy
• Yet UK lags behind in investment in Realtime Generation

Slough, England, 7 August, 2007 –The UK's next generation workforce has the skills to become the world's leading knowledge economy but could apply their talents elsewhere if their desire for a better work life balance are not supported by UK employers, according to independent research released today and commissioned by international solutions provider, Logicalis.

The survey looks at the attitudes of 13-17 year olds on topics ranging from their expectations of how they will work in the future, to their expected experiences of higher education. It reveals that 81 per cent of this generation have already thought about their work life balance, with 75 per cent stating an intention to work abroad at some point in their careers. Eleven per cent of those questioned were already sure that they would seek alternative employment if their employer asked them to put work before their family.

The survey suggests that the sophisticated expectations of this ‘Realtime Generation' of children born after 1990, about where and how they will learn and work, are fuelled by the increased global perspective offered by the Internet, and a growing use of Internet powered communications services, and social networking and publishing sites. These resources encourage them to share ideas and seek opinions from, and with, a wide variety of sources, and to demonstrate the traits that describe a classic knowledge worker.

For example, 91 per cent of children questioned claimed to use Instant Messaging at least once a week. Over 50 per cent used Instant Messaging daily, and over half (55 per cent) expected to continue this practice in the workplace to communicate with colleagues. 87% of survey respondents stated they were members of an online community, with over a third (35 per cent) claiming to have written their own blog, and nearly half (47 per cent) having read somebody else's.

Based on the results of a comparative study, the UK Realtime Generation's use of personal technology even exceeds that of their US counterparts, [1] putting the UK in a strong position globally. However, in contrast to the Realtime Generation's willingness to embrace technology to improve their work life balance, the latest available OECD figures ranked the UK , 13 th out of 30 countries, for investment in ‘knowledge', [2] which it defines as R&D, university, and software tools.

Tom Kelly, managing director, Logicalis UK , comments, “Gordon Brown recently re-emphasised the importance of realising the talents of all our people, in his vision of Britain as the great global success story of the century. But the UK 's ability to maintain its position as a leading knowledge economy over the next 20 years, will depend on how we act now. In an increasingly global market, the future of our economy will be defined by whether a 13 year old in Bolton can compete for that knowledge economy job, against a 13 year old in Bangladesh or Beijing ”.

“We know from our research that the UK 's Realtime Generation has the tools and the talent to do this. But will this highly capable generation have the support and investment from business, education, and government, to encourage them to keep this talent on these shores, and ensure it is used to further the economic success of UK plc?”

Emphasising their expectance to continue to use collaboration tools in work and university, over a third (38per cent) thought that making university lectures available online, to view anytime, would either be a reality or a very good idea, while nearly half (48 per cent) predicted that webcams were either already used in business, or would be by the time they got there. In a stark reminder to university leaders about the role of technology in education, 67% of these future student consumers stated that technology experience would play a significant part in their selection of university location.

In light of the independent research, Logicalis suggests some key steps where government, education, and business can focus their efforts to ensure they attract and retain the best of the Realtime Generation talent pool:

• UK Government must work with key stakeholders in education, business, and Internet Service Providers, to ensure that all of the UK 's 13-17 year olds have access to new communication technologies and services, and that social policy reflects the requirements for digital inclusion for all.
• UK Government must view this Realtime Generation's willingness to co-operate and collaborate with friends, family and the rich forms of new content and media, as a major asset to UK plc, and must look at the earliest possible time to encourage collaboration in the classroom and community, through the creation of national strategic social technology strategy.
• UK universities must manage the changing nature of the education experience, with education content and the education process, and ensure that the technology experience of their students is high on their education proposition agenda, or risk alienating a large proportion of their future income stream from students, at home and abroad.
• UK business leaders must become technology aware, and the ownership of technology experience and strategy in the workplace must lie squarely in the boardroom. CEOs who shy away from understanding the information technology strategy of their business will risk losing access to a workforce of natural collaborators that will in turn challenge future competitive edge and profitability.
• UK business leaders must be prepared to invest in information technology innovation, and better manage the emergence of ‘consumer' orientated technologies into the workplace.
• UK business must embrace new methods of collaborative and flexible working to ensure a supply of new top human talent for their workforce.

For more details of the survey, visit http://www.logicalis.com

California Broadband Initiative Presentations

here. Tennesseans, notice especially the Connect Nation presentation by Brian Mefford, President and CEO, here.

Managing Virtual Distance - Driving Business Transformation through Distributed Work, November 14-16, 2007

The Disneyland Hotel • Anaheim, CA

THE One, THE Only Conference Focused on Strategies, Teams, Tools & Beyond in the Virtual Workplace
ANNOUNCING INAUGURAL CONFERENCE ON MANAGING VIRTUAL DISTANCE

• IDENTIFY, MANAGE & MEASURE virtual distance
• Break through language barriers & manage MULTI-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENTS
• Harness virtual KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
• Believe the unbelievable & witness the power of VIRTUAL WORLDS technology
• Transform business norms & cause cultural shifts in the way people work through SOCIAL NETWORKING
• Implement new millennium strategies that change the way we think about INNOVATION in a corporate context
• Manage, Train & Measure Productivity of the REMOTE EMPLOYEE
• Identify SECURITY CHALLENGES introduced by the transition into Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

To Register:
E-mail register@iirusa.com
Call 888.670.8200
Fax 941.365.2507 
Visit http://www.iirusa.com/virtual

The New World of Work
Daniel W. Rasmus
Director of Information Work Vision – MICROSOFT

Virtual Distance Under High-Stress
Honorable Jerry MacArthur Hultin
President – POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY & FORMER UNDER SECRETARY OF THE U.S. NAVY

Global Projects vs. Traditional Projects
Karan Sorensen
Chief Information Officer – JOHNSON & JOHNSON PHARMACEUTICAL R&D

Legal Issues & IP Protection
Michael S. Mensik
Partner – BAKER & MCKENZIE

Virtual Worlds Technology
Philip Rosedale
Founder & CEO – LINDEN LABS

Secrets of High-Performance Distributed Teams
Cynthia C. Froggatt
Author of “Work Naked: Eight Essential Principles for Peak Performance in the Virtual Workplace”

Leadership in the Digital Age
Charles H. House
Executive Director – STANFORD UNIVERSITY, MEDIA X LAB

A Perspective From Corporate Resources
Ann Bamesberger
Vice President of Open Work Services – SUN MICROSYSTEMS

More here.

This Day in Connected Health

<ed.note>FasterCures SmartBrief pointed me here while Wireless Healthcare Weekly News pointed me here. This is, of course, serendipitous and synergistic given this, you know, if anyone in power pays attention.</ed.note>

If Congress Can't Understand the Decrease in STEM Students

<ed.note>it is, in part, because CIOs are being paid to down-salary and geo-concentrate tech-related gigs and the folks intelligent enough to enter STEM classes are also intelligent enough to use this new-fangled world wide web thingie and read about. Informed, market forces can be very efficient re: incenting activity.

The comments at one posting on this reality ( "This is all about containing costs. There are more than enough well trained US citizens available to fill these positions." and "There are lots of other professionals with elite qualifications (and sometimes experience) that would love to join the revolution. What about using technology to employ people where they currently live?" ) reinforce for me the inconsistency of the fedgov's lack of policy to encourage firms which make software to enable the distributed, digital enterprise, which the fedgov buys, to adopt the work over ip paradigm, especially at as time when politicos "make hay" over e85 ( noone dares mention it is in part because of all that commuting folks are doing ).

Any currently running Green politician out there willing to make "the work over ip paradigm as default position" part of their campaign speech? "e-nable first, then e85." How would that play with the Iowa server farmers?</ed.note>

2007 Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting, Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C., Atrium Ballroom, 8:00 a.m.

Telework Exchange will host the 2nd Annual Town Hall Meeting to discuss government telework and next steps to establishing telework as a mainstream standard operating procedure across government agencies. This focused event brings together a diverse set of stakeholders, including government agency telework proponents, government telework managers, government teleworkers, industry supporters, and affiliated organizations - all working collectively to achieve demonstrable progress in this area.

Advancing Virtual Organizing: Potentials and Realities from Scientific Grid to Citizen-Service Communities - June 20, 2007

The purpose of the workshop is to envision greater possibilities for distributed citizen service communities, in light of grid-based, research and design communities. How can emerging public service communities learn "build to share" principles from distributed research communities already benefiting from cyberinfrastructures they have built? What are the implications for accelerating Service Oriented Architecture in public service communities?

By discovering how different fields of business, science and healthcare are using grid computing, participants will share in lessons learned and best practices to provide a common foundation for establishing next steps in planning projects that leverage all the advances associated with grid communities.

"...Grids are the integrated platforms for all network-distributed applications or services whether they are computationally or transactionally intensive." Paul Strong, Grid Today, Sept.11, 2006

In addition, the workshop includes a focus on the U.S. HealthGrid. Current priorities as seen through the National Institutes of Health Roadmap for example call for advancing collaboration in biomedical research and using biomedical data and information to improve the quality and outcomes of health care delivery.

The President's goal to make an electronic health record available for most Americans by 2014 and the development of the Nationwide Health Information Network under the leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, present a timely opportunity to share and collaborate advanced HealthGrid projects, systems, data and knowledge. Through collaboration, open solutions and innovation, the grid community can contribute to advancing quality, electronic health records, population and bio-surveillance and personal health records to achieve higher levels of performance and interoperability.

Wired for Health Quality Act

here. <ed.note>Note: Sec. 403. Facilitating the Provision of Telehealth Services Across State Lines</ed.note>

Who Fetches Coffee? - Internships move online

<ed.note>Apparently somebody knows about Results-Only Work Environments.</ed.note>

Friday, June 8, 2007, by Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

Last school year, Matthew Hanzelka did an internship with a financial planner, helping develop a monthly e-mail newsletter and taking on special projects while finishing coursework at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

But his wasn't a traditional type of internship, complete with a small workstation in an otherwise unused corner of an office. All the work was completed from the comfort of the house he and his roommates lived in, and he mainly communicated with his boss through e-mail and telephone.

College students across the country are beginning to embark on summer internships, often one of their first chances to apply concepts learned in the classroom to an actual workplace. Increasingly, however, defining the office casual dress code isn't necessary, as some interns aren't making regular appearances in the office at all.

Michael Ramage is the Executive Director of Connected Tennessee

<ed.note>Though I probably would have gone with a TN-based web site designer to begin with ( this stuff can be oh, so, political! ) I'm glad he's finally here. Wonder if we'll follow Mexico's No Mas Cables approach? Or maybe deploy a Stratellite™ grid? Or a Nokia mesh?

Ramage will be working with the assistance of ConnectedNation, the leadership of which ( Brian Mefford ( bmefford@connectednation.com ), Mark McElroy ( mmcelroy@connectednation.com ), Andrew McNeill ( amcneill@connectednation.com ), Laura Taylor ( ltaylor@connectednation.com ) ) are also the current leadership of ConnectKY.</ed.note>

Michael Ramage ( mramage@connectedtn.org , 615-828-5113 ) is the Executive Director of Connected Tennessee, a division of Connected Nation, Inc. Mr. Ramage is responsible for leading the successful implementation of the State of Tennessee’s Trail to Innovation, a comprehensive broadband deployment and adoption plan slated to leverage state, federal and private investment aimed at blanketing Tennessee with high-speed Internet access, as well as improving the use of technology and the Internet.

Mr. Ramage previously served as a Project Manager for ConnectKentucky, Connected Nation’s Kentucky initiative. In this role, he was responsible for facilitating comprehensive GIS-based Inventory Assessment of existing broadband infrastructure and service availability, the community-by-community implementation planning process and ensuring that every county in Kentucky’s western region has an online presence and the ability to improve the quality of life at the local level. Through this effort, communities were empowered to use technology applications and build partnerships that provided real-time budget savings and process efficiencies over the Internet, ensuring their ability to compete within the local and global marketplace.

Prior to joining ConnectKentucky, Mr. Ramage served Murray State University as Special Projects Leader, Lecturer and Network Manager within the Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology and the Center for Telecommunications Systems Management. While at Murray State, he was the recipient of grants from the National Science Foundation, Cisco Systems Inc., the United States Department of Education and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Other accomplishments include the development of GIS mapping for Calloway County, which was the precursor to the mapping performed by Connected Nation, and the development of the International Telecommunications Education and Research Association. Additionally, Mr. Ramage led the West Kentucky Telehealth Initiative and conducted research on various telecommunications topics. Prior to joining Murray State University, he worked as a Network Specialist for BellSouth Telecommunications in Nashville following his employment as a Computer Technician at Camco Technologies in Paducah, Kentucky.

Mr. Ramage has an Information Assurance Graduate Education Certificate from Purdue University’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security. Additionally, he has a Masters of Science in Telecommunications Systems Management and a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science, both from Murray State University. Among the industry certifications that Mr. Ramage has held include Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Cisco Certified Network Associate. Mr. Ramage was also bestowed the honorary title of a Kentucky Colonel for his work with technology in Kentucky. He is married to his beautiful wife, Brittany, and is the proud father of a baby girl, Shelby.

Getting Clueful: Seven Things the CIO Should Know About Telecommuting [ was Esther Schindler, Senior Online Editor, CIO.com, is Researching Work Over IP ]

By Esther Schindler

<ed.note>FWIW: You'll have to click to the rest of the article to see my quotes.</ed.note>

IT workers who telecommute share advice for their bosses about the process, technology, and attitudes necessary for staff to be productive when they work from home.

May 09, 2007 — CIO — Telecommuting provides employees with the flexibility and quiet they need to optimize their productivity. Plus, it offers employers opportunities to save money and recruit workers from a more geographically diverse—and potentially cheaper—talent pool. For IT professionals, telecommuting is certainly the best work/life option.

However, working from home isn't always easy for individuals or employers. For telecommuting arrangements to work for both parties, employees need to be self-motivated, have access to the necessary technology (such as a high-speed Internet connection and a VPN), and clearly define job duties that can be accomplished remotely. At the same time, employers need to make their teleworkers feel like they're a part of the team, integrate telecommuters into workflows and judge employee productivity by results rather than visual cues.

But too often, IT management doesn't understand the key issues that can affect productivity and team morale. Managers can make painful and expensive errors even when their hearts are in the right place. If you get telecommuting right, you'll have a crew of independent technologists who get their jobs done efficiently; if not, you'll create dissension, distrust and workflow confusion.

Nashville, Are you Connected?

Jay Deragon writes:

I am pleased to announce the official launched of a new group on Linkedin titled "Nashville, Are You Connected?"

This group was established to engage the diverse representation of individuals on Linkedin either currently living in middle TN or having a past affiliation with the area. Middle Tennessee was rated by Fortune Magazine as one of the top ten places within the U.S. to live and work due to its economic growth, low unemployment, low cost of living. quality of life, education and the diverse industries headquartered in the area.

Please join me and encourage others on Linkedin whom have interest in middle Tennessee to join this new group and participate in the power that Linkedin offers all of us. To join please follow the link.

Fiber to the Farm

Feb 5, 2007, "Funding fiber to the farm", By Joan Engebretson, telephonyonline.com

Like finding well-situated season tickets to your favorite sports team, it can be daunting to get a telecom grant or loan from the Rural Utilities Service. But once the task is accomplished, the payback can be enormous.

Start-up communications service provider Air Advantage, for example, was able to use RUS grants and low-interest loans to expand its high-speed wireless network to serve a sparsely populated area of Michigan that had no high-speed connectivity.

“Our cost of expansion prior to the RUS loan was very expensive,” said Scott Zimmer, president of Air Advantage. “I'm not sure we would be in business today if we had continued on that track. In fact, I'm quite sure we wouldn't be.”

FedGov ( USDA ) Distance Ed and Telemedicine Funds

MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 5, 2007 - Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas C. Dorr today announced that USDA is making available $62.9 million in distance learning and telemedicine loans, $75 million in loan and grant combinations, and $15 million in grants.

"Telemedicine and distance learning are the foundation on which the quality of education and health care in rural America can and will improve," Dorr said via a video teleconference with health care providers in five states over a USDA-financed telemedicine network. "With these systems in place, rural residents will be able to take advantage of the wide variety of health care services and education programs available now and into the future."

Since 2002, USDA has invested more than $166 million in its Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program, allowing 3,796 rural educational facilities to expand their access to modern telecommunications technology, and 2,226 health care institutions to develop technologies needed to enhance local medical care. The Administration proposes additional funding for improvements to both rural Critical Access Hospitals and key community facilities improvements, including DLT linkages.

Telemedicine technology makes it possible for doctors to examine and direct the treatment of patients from remote treatment centers. The technology gives rural residents access to medical specialists not often available in remote areas. The distance learning program finances equipment to expand educational resources to students and educational institutions in isolated rural areas.

Applications for the $15 million in distance learning and telemedicine grants must be received by June 11, 2007 and will compete nationally for funding. Applications for loans and loan and grant combinations will be accepted year round. Interested parties should contact their Rural Development state office. A list of state offices is available at www.rurdev.usda.gov. View the Rural Development DLT website ( http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/dlt/dlt.htm ) for additional information on the distance learning and telemedicine program.

Smartsourcing - The Podcasts

here.

The ALICE Project

The ALICE (America Latina Interconectada Con Europa) project was set up in 2003 to develop an IP research network infrastructure within the Latin American region and towards Europe. It addresses the infrastructure objectives of the European Commission’s @LIS programme, which aims to promote the Information Society and fight the digital divide throughout Latin America.

Owing to its success, the ALICE project has been extended until March 2007 from its original end date of May 2006.

Incenting Healthcare Disparity [ was: Toward a National Rural Telehealth IT Support Policy [Update] ]

<ed.note>I noted earlier that "The American Health IT sector needs to incent less with promises of stock options and more with upfront offers of educational loan repayment. While there is federal school loan repayment help for healthcare workers ( the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program ) and healthcare researchers ( the National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program ), there is no similar help for those healthcare IT workers who will lay the "backbone" for telehealth."

Bank of America is actually helping primary care doctors, which is laudable -- although the actual need appears to me to be a lack of CYBER.NURSES. Instead of intentionally seeking a hybridization of nursing and IT ( via the NHIN related grants ), we underpay nurses and offshore HIT.</ed.note>

Disintermediate Me! [ was Banking 2.0 ]

<ed.note>Updated Updated Update: MarketPlace on Prosper.com<ed.note>

BofA joins in. Update: why stop with banking when you can trade stocks free at Zecco. I'm waiting for the Mortgage and Healthcare Savings Account combo product offering to hit the holistic wealth market...

According to their web site, Zopa is coming to the U.S.

Grameen GRID

Nobel Prize Laureate and Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus, announced during a special address to participants in the ITU TELECOM WORLD 2006 Opening Ceremony today, that Grameen will team up the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other partners, including Cisco Systems, QUALCOMM and a newly formed consortium, Enclusion, to launch a virtual, global "ICT Empowerment Network" as part of their collaboration through the Connect the World initiative.

"We need to press the international community into action, so I am grateful to ITU for helping push this cause," Yunus said, adding that "this is just the beginning of an exciting, new, open collaboration and I encourage others to join us in this global effort."

<ed.note>He's heard of Zopa.com I'm assuming? No need to rereinvent the wheel...</ed.note>

Mobile eHealth [ Updated: was Hands Free To Care With Wireless Phone ]

Story 1: 16th November 2006 Wireless Healthcare

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers in hospitals can now instantly communicate with one another thanks to a partnership between Vocera Communications, a wireless communications solutions company, and Xwave, a division of Bell Aliant, one of Canada’s largest information and communications technology (ICT) providers.

Using basic voice commands conveyed through a hands-free communication badge, the Vocera Communication System instantly connects people with one another, allowing them to quickly access patient information, make decisions, and act on them in a timely manner—anytime and anywhere in any wireless-networked building or campus. The badge weighs less than two ounces and can be clipped to a shirt pocket or collar, or worn on a lanyard, enabling instant communication via a combination of wireless local area network (LAN), voice-over-IP (VoIP) and speech-recognition technology.

Story 2: "Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology Jumps in Hospitals" By Neil Versel, contributing editor, Digital HealthCare & Productivity

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Even though adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and other clinical IT remains fairly anemic, at least one aspect of health-IT has taken giant steps forward in the last few years: the use of mobile and wireless technology where choices are proliferating.

Three Massachusetts Communities Chosen To Be Test Cases For Digital Health Records

March 29, 2005 By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, InformationWeek

Backed by $50 million from a health insurer, the multiyear project will test whether digital health records can cut errors and costs in the real world.

Three Massachusetts communities have been chosen as pilot sites for an electronic-health-record project that could serve as the model for statewide adoption of digitized medical-record systems.

... Within each community, health-care providers--including acute-care hospitals or group hospitals, physician practices, long-term care facilities, nursing and home health-care agencies, and community health centers--will implement interoperable E-health records systems.

Distributed Education Leads to the Distributed Digital Enterprise Management Model

<ed.note>

I noticed US News had a recent special edition focusing on several aspects of online education ( mainly collegiate degrees ). I thought I'd repost and tweak this rant. I anticipate that one of the next big things will be the application of grid computing to drug and treatment studies on aggregated deidentified medical data made available by the nationwide healthcare information network as well as RHIOs and other health cooperatives that host electronic medical records or personal health records. The management strata of US businesses ( need I emphasize Tennessee specifically? ) need to deal with the reality of the distributed, digital enterprise as the backbone of the global corporation now ( as opposed to future ), especially for rural economic development. The lackluster rates of adoption of the telework model ( homesourcing ) as opposed to the geolocking offshoring|outsourcing model indicates that if management isn't introduced to the virtual corporation concept in school they are not likely to "imagine" their way into this worldview on their own.

Distance Education Solves The Uncompensated k - 12 Teacher Problem

In the age of instant communications, people keep trying to fight the "lack of teachers" fight in geographic terms. We don't need to physically bring quality teachers to every school, rather the content of their lessons. Instead of pursuing the winless battle of recruiting quality teachers everywhere for inadequate compensation, we need to build out pervasive broadband and concentrate on getting every kid computing skills. The geographically limited approach ( GEOLOCKING ) is why the Edison School’s model still struggles -- no matter how well-managed the remainder of the education infrasturcture equation -- it does not differentiate between the messenger and the medium, and doesn’t acknowledge the untenable approach of recruiting quality teachers everywhere for inadequate compensation.

First we should create vouchers that authorize parents to determine where their child's money goes. Eligible to receive these funds would be any teacher in the nation, or on the planet, who is willing to offer a curriculum, and provide distance instruction. This distance and diversity approach helps home-schoolers, private schoolers and public schoolers. The laptop for every child movement heralds the only approach that introduces true competition into the educational system.

In public schools, monies can then be better spent on local aides who would help the kids with the homework rather than delivering the lesson. Peer tutoring via instant messaging and wikis can also be encouraged as a collaborative tool rather than framing the activity as "cheating." Real businesses use Jabber and SMS everyday and CMS is one of the growing areas of business knowledge management.</ed.note>

4th Annual Bridging for Accessibility Celebration

You’re invited to the 4th Annual Bridging for Accessibility Celebration in Celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Host: Center for Independent Living of Middle Tennessee
Date:  Thursday, October 26, 2006
Time:  3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Location:  Music City Star Downtown Station
Theme:  Workers with Disabilities: Ready for the Global Workforce

Please join us for this celebration as we focus on Accessible, Affordable Transportation in connection with the Regional Transit Authority and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Additionally, we will highlight Telecommuting as an achievable, affordable alternative to increase employment options. Lastly, help us celebrate as Access Nashville recognizes community businesses that have made strides toward accessibility. 

History: Public Law 176, enacted by Congress in 1945, designated the first week in October as "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week”. In 1962, the word "physically" was removed from the week's name to recognize the employment needs of all Americans with disabilities. Congress, in 1988, expanded the week to a month and changed its name to "National Disability Employment Awareness Month”.

*The location is accessible and an interpreter will be available on site. 

Please call 292-5803, ext. 39 or e-mail cilmt@tndisability.org if you have any additional questions or accommodation needs.

Merry C. Adams

Nokia introduces Wibree technology as open industry initiative

A unique radio technology extending local connectivity to small devices

HELSINKI, Finland – October 3, 2006 — Nokia today introduced Wibree technology as an open industry initiative extending local connectivity to small devices. This new radio technology developed by Nokia Research Center complements other local connectivity technologies, consuming only a fraction of the power compared to other such radio technologies, enabling smaller and less costly implementations and being easy to integrate with Bluetooth solutions. Wibree is the first open technology offering connectivity between mobile devices or Personal Computers, and small, button cell battery power devices such as watches, wireless keyboards, toys and sports sensors. By extending the role mobile devices can play in consumers’ lives, this technology increases the growth potential in these market segments.

The goal being to have the new technogy available to the market as fast as possible, Nokia is defining the Wibree interoperability specification together with a group of leading companies representing semiconductor manufacturers, device vendors and qualification service providers. The technology will be made broadly available to the industry through an open and preferably existing forum enabling wide adoption of the technology. The forum solution is under evaluation and will be defined by the time the specification is finalized. According to the current estimate the first commercial version of the interoperability specification will be available during second quarter of 2007.

The current members of the group defining the specification are: Broadcom Corporation, CSR, Epson and Nordic Semiconductor having licensed the Wibree technology for commercial chip implementation and Suunto and Taiyo Yuden, contributing to the interoperability specification in their respective areas of expertise.
          
“Wibree technology is an important development that opens up new market opportunities and a whole new range of possibilities for mobile users,” says Dr. Bob Iannucci, head of Nokia Research Center. “Our aim is to establish an industry standard faster than ever before by offering an interoperable solution that can be commercialized and incorporated into products quickly.”

Technical details:
Wibree technology complements close range communication with Bluetooth like performance within 0-10 m range and data rate of 1 Mbps. Wibree is optimized for applications requiring extremely low power consumption, small size and low cost. Wibree is implemented either as stand-alone chip or as Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode chip. The small devices like watches and sports sensors will be based on stand-alone chip whereas Bluetooth devices will take benefit of the dual-mode solution, extending Bluetooth device connectivity to new range of smallest devices.

For more information on Wibree see the website www.wibree.com

Sprint network to use Intel's WiMax

By John Markoff and Ken Belson, The New York Times

Intel has also made progress in South Korea, which is using a version of WiMax called WiBro, and in developing countries like Brazil and Pakistan.

...More broadly, Intel has long wanted to create a global wireless network that mirrors today's land-based Internet, in which dozens of competitors build equipment designed to support a single open standard.

Sprint says it expects to reach a third of the U.S. population with its new network by the end of 2008.

Sprint's WiMax gambit could put pressure on Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless, and on equipment makers, to move toward more open standards and what the industry refers to as "network neutrality," a network design in which all types of data traffic are treated equally by the network operators.

Doc's prescription for tele-medicine

Shashwat Chaturvedi, Cybertimes NewsDaily

It was an amazing promise made quite a few years back: a promise of a healthy life to the teeming millions residing in the innumerable villages dotting the Indian landscape.

Tele-medicine promised to change the way healthcare was to be delivered to the common man, be it Jhumritaliya in Jharkhand or Ganganagar in Rajasthan. No more, would the rural junta have to travel to nearby metros or state capitals to avail of specialty treatment as most of the healthcare facilities would be available at the public health centers (PHC) connected to the main hospital via dedicated communication channels -- be it ISDN line or even a VSAT.

Scores of pilot projects were launched and everyone waited with bated breath. Yet the promised remained unfulfilled. Progress has been excruciatingly slow for a variety of reasons, be it paucity of capital or infrastructure issues.

But now, Telemedicine has got a new lease of life, thanks to the spread of the Internet. With the number of Internet users growing by leaps and bounds (numbering over 50 million as of December 2005, according to Internetworldstats.com) and broadband set to explode into Indian homes, the World Wide Web might just be the medicine that the doctor had prescribed for an ailing tele-medicine.

Focused on Creating an Advanced and Interoperable Medical Network, HIMSS and Internet2 Announce Collaboration

The two organizations will leverage each other’s expertise to explore the viability of an independent and logically interconnected medical network in the United States

CHICAGO, Ill. and ANN ARBOR, Mich. - August 1, 2006 – The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and Internet2 announced today that the two organizations have created a partnership to explore the development of a secure, reliable and advanced networking solution for the transmission of medical information, messages and images throughout the broad healthcare industry.

The two organizations are exploring a new network designed to offer the health sciences and healthcare sectors a private and secure medium for exchanging health information. A next-generation architecture built to meet federal regulatory requirements, this new network may also have value to offer in the work of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).

This ground-breaking collaboration is a natural extension for both not-for-profit organizations. Through a membership of 20,000 individuals, 45 chapters, and more than 300 corporations representing millions of employees, the HIMSS mission focuses on the betterment of healthcare through the most effective use of information technology and management systems. Internet2, the U.S. ’s advanced networking consortium led by 208 U.S. university members in partnership with over 100 industry and government members, works to develop and deploy advanced networks, applications and resources.

“HIMSS and our members look forward to this collaboration with Internet2,” said H. Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president/CEO. “The synergies between HIMSS and Internet2 brought our organizations together to consider and evaluate the feasibility of establishing a network that would meet the evolving needs of the biomedical and healthcare delivery community.”

Since 1999, Internet2 has operated an advanced nationwide network that supports leading-edge Internet technology development for the research and academic community. Internet2 recently announced a major upgrade to this network to provide members 10 times the capacity and speed of its current infrastructure. In addition, the Internet2 community has successfully developed important middleware technologies to address critical issues in authentication and authorization in order to enable active privacy management. Through this partnership, HIMSS and the Internet2 community will work closely together to leverage these leading-edge technologies to explore development of brand new capabilities that meet the specific security and privacy needs of the healthcare industry.

“The research and education community has long understood the potential for leveraging advanced Internet technology to enhance the healthcare industry’s ability to serve the public’s needs, to improve the flow of information for research, to streamline care processes and to enable cost savings,” said Douglas Van Houweling, Internet2 president and CEO. “Our partnership with the HIMSS community is a major step forward in realizing this vision. Together we will work to create a new state-of-the-art platform for biomedical research, education and clinical practice on a national scale.”

Through the partnership, four working groups have been established to explore the requirements and capabilities needed to create an advanced medical network during the next year. HIMSS and Internet2 will join each other’s organizations. Members of both organizations will also join each of the four working groups, which include:

Identity Management that will allow the identification and authentication of individuals regardless of their physical location.

Privacy & Security that will focus on the tools and techniques that will assure the privacy and security of the information that travels on the network.

Biomedical (Health Sciences and Healthcare) Education that will focus on meeting the unique needs and accessing the resources required for biomedical education.

Telehealth that will focus on the implications for clinical practice when a reliable advanced network is available.

In addition, members of both organizations will work for the development and implementation of the network with other partnerships and collaborations, including Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE).

Vyatta Takes On Cisco With New Open-Source Router

Jul 24, 2006 By J. Nicholas Hoover, InformationWeek

But an open-source product is no better than those working on its code, and that number is much larger for a company like Cisco than it is for Vyatta and the small open-source routing community.

Networking startup Vyatta today released what it says is the first enterprise-grade, open-source router platform in a bid to pull routing away from the proprietary world of big names like Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks.

Open source has already shown some limited promise in the networking and IP telephony arenas. In the hallways at almost any IP telephony conference, attendees will inevitably hear someone mention Asterisk, an open-source IP PBX that's gotten backing from IBM. The Department of Defense uses Sourcefire network security products based on Snort open-source intrusion dectection and prevention.

Open source routing projects like GNU Zebra and the related Quagga project are barely a blip on the radar. Vyatta seems to have been more lucky out of the gate, as 10,000 people downloaded the beta software in the last several months. Vyatta VP of strategy Dave Roberts says interest has mostly come from small- and medium-sized businesses looking for value, but major financial houses have called asking for details and large ISPs have downloaded Vyatta software.

Instead of purchasing an expensive piece of hardware, all Vyatta requires is an Intel-based PC with at least a 500 MHz processor, 256 Mbytes of RAM, 500 Mbytes of free disk space, a PCI-based T1 interface card and the company's Open Flexible Router software.

Roberts says customers should look to Vyatta for value, security and flexibility, and also took the opportunity to rip on proprietary systems. "Closed-source is like Stalin and central planning," he says. "At the end of the day, the company knows best. With open source, that's not a barrier."

Brain Chips Gives Patients with Paralysis New Powers

Neuroscienties dream of creating neural prosthetics that would allow paralyzed patients to regain control over their arms and legs.  While that goal is still far off, researchers at Brown University and Massachusetts General Hospital are making promising strides.

In a study published in the journal Nature, the researches describe how two paralyzed patients with a surgically imparted neural device successfully control a computer and, in one case, a robotic arm -- using only their minds.

<ed.note>I've anticipated this happening and have been very disappointed that "official" disabilities movement advocates have not been advocating a national policy of employing PWD from assistive technology equipped home offices over broadband and vpns, especially now that a national survey finds most of the 25 percent with an option to telecommute prefer to drive and that U.S. workers waste $3.9 billion annually by not telecommuting.</ed.note>

College Launches Research Facility With Real-Time Connectivity

6/29/2006 Walters-Storyk Design Group

The Gene Center at Hunter College in New York, NY, recently opened a new Internet2 Distance Research & Learning Facility. Designed by the Walters-Storyk Design Group, the new facility is driven by high-speed Internet2 transmission and promotes real-time collaborative experimentation and teaching projects within the international gene research community.

“Internet2 speed, reliability, and clarity will enable us to virtually share the same laboratory with colleagues at over 200 research instit