A képen épp Steve Jobsé látható, de alább kattintva megnézheted  Hitler, Kennedy vagy Gandhi asztalát is!

10 Most Influential Desks Of The Modern Age

I thought I’d post a documentary since I havent added any for a while and one I watched a few weeks ago stood out for me. Have you ever wondered how hacking came about? No? Well I cant say I did either but I will say I thought it was something that was unique to computers. Actually I cant say I really thought about it all that much but when I found this video I was fascinated by the whole story.

It seems hacking has been around for ages – in 1878 Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone company hired teenage boys to work the switchboards and he quickly realized his mistake. Not only were the boys rude to customers they also disconnected lines during calls and they crossed wires so callers found themselves talking to strangers. And this is considered by many to be the first form of hacking but I wouldnt mind betting if you look far back enough you could probably find teenage hackers in ancient times!

The documentary below looks at hacking from around the 1960’s and Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, founders of Apple Computers, and probably the most famous of all, John T Draper aka Captain Crunch, talk about their experiences as early hackers of… the telephone! Telephone hacking was serious stuff in the 60’s and 70’s and this video paints a fascinating picture about how telephone hacking evolved into computer hacking.

This semester I have been hammering away at two themes: Twitter and High-Performance Computing.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that limits postings (i.e. tweets) to a maximum of 140 characters.

During November 02009, TOP500 issued its list of the world’s 500 fastest supercomputers and Jaguar was number at 1.759 petaflops (i.e. 1759 trillion floating-point operations per second).

The lecture notes for weeks 13 (02009.11.16) and 15 (02009.12.01) contained the following tweets.

The Global Language Monitor names “Twitter” the top word of 2009.

I’ve been telling students that I am in the process of learning about Twitter. For me, as of 02009.12.01, the power of Twitter is in who I follow.

President Obama visited China and he had Twitter on his mind.

“First of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter.”~Obama to Chinese

I don’t know why Obama had to let the Chinese in on the fact that had never tweeted.

“I’m a big supporter of not restricting Internet use, Internet access, other information technologies like Twitter.”~Obama to Chinese

Obama referred to Twitter as a form of “information technology” and these days I call this 21st century Informatics. In a nutshell, 21st century Informatics is supercomputer-based data processing.

Al Gore was the keynote speaker at the 21st annual SC conference. SC is an “international conference on High Performance Computing (HPC), networking, storage and analysis.”

At SC09, Al Gore says supercomputing can be killer app in climate change.

Gore believes high-performance computing systems, which include high-performance visualization systems, will help convince the world that climate change is a real problem. Gore might be wise to expect the unexpected.

“Supercomputing has given us the most powerful tool in the history of civilization.”~Al Gore at SC09

A bold statement by Gore and only time will tell if he is correct.

By the way, Steve Wozniak once said, “Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window.”

This is fun.  Not one that I have seen before.  Click here to view.

Pirates of silicon valley

Trata de cuatro estudiantes universitarios, dos compañias y una batalla que sigue

Steve Jobs
y
Steve Wozniak
Fundadores de Apple

Bill Gates
y
Paul Allen
Fundadores de Microsoft

Así que  no escribire spoilers, solo bajenla n.n

Película

Subtítulos

So by now, you should know that Donny & Kym won the big mirror ball trophy on “Dancing With The Stars.” I figured it would be hard to miss. So if you’re still interested in a recap of last night’s show, you’ll find it after the jump.

We got to see all the couples from season nine, with the final three couples making the grand entrance. Uh-oh. Miss Piggy – or at least the back of her head appeared as the recap of Monday’s performances played. Live TV, people. So here’s what we do when there are problems, we go to break, regroup, then get back to it. So happy Tom Bergeron is the host! He is a true pro!

Here are the standings:

1. Mya & Dmitry – 87 points

2. Donny & Kym – 85 points

3. Kelly & Louis – 76 points

First performance of the night comes from Whitney Houston. She performed “Million Dollar Bills.” Sorry. Can’t watch her. I don’t think she sings any more. It’s like she just speaks the lyrics.

It’s time for “The Losers Club.” It’s the people who are the first to be kicked off the show. Jeffery Ross returns in a sequined jacket to roast/induct a new member into the club. Ashley Hamilton gets his jacket. Jeff called it a “token of your suckiness.” He said when Ashley was out there, people thought it was a telethon for the uncoordinated. Then, Ashley said he’d give his dance with Edyta his full 10%. Ashley dropped Edyta, then danced with Jeff. Then (the horror!), they opened their shirts! That’s comedy, right? Tom said Jeff’s stomach was whiter than a snow drift. True.

Like deja vu, we get the first of many recaps of the entire season. Sorry, folks. I’m hitting FF. I’ve sat through the whole season. I could just go back and read my recaps if I wanted to live it again. Kathy Ireland & Tony Dovolani danced. If she danced like this weeks ago, she might have made it further. They were followed by Macy Gray & Jonathan Roberts. I’m still uncomfortable watching Macy dance. Debi Mazar & Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She was lovely.

Another taped piece looks back at what became “DWTS: The Season of The Flu/Injuries.”

Tom DeLay & Cheryl Burke returned to do the Texas Two Step. If not for injury, I totally believe The Hammer could have made it to the finale! This was his dance – even the booty shake. Only made me feel a little uncomfortable. Still, he is fun to watch!

Taped piece looking back at the fourth and fifth weeks of competition. FF again. Chuck Liddell & Anna Trebunskaya performed. He still scares me. Mark Dacascos & Lacey Schwimmer performed next. Then, Chuck and Mark did some fighting. Don’t worry, no one got hurt. Except maybe my eyes.

Adam Carolla gave Donny some advice on how to win. Really? Adam can’t dance! Kelly and Mya showed up. Adam called the ladies “the enemy.” Then, he tried hard to be funny. FF.

Natalie Coughlin & Alec Mazo returned to perform. She was good. Why didn’t she make it through the competition?

Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas performed in bright yellow and purple. Is that a ploy to get Lakers tickets? She was so good!

The judges talk about the finalists. Len said Kelly is unexpected. Bruno said she’s wonderful in hold. Len said she engages with the audience. Carrie Ann said Donny is an incredible showman. Len said Donny lights up the ballroom with every dance. Bruno said Donny is solid and never underperforms. Len said Mya has the talent to take the title. Bruno said Mya uses her body like a musical instrument.

Another re-introduction of the final three. Come on, ABC! Content, please! FF again.

Kelly & Louis performed their Viennese waltz from earlier in the season. It did look like Kelly forgot a step towards the end. Still loved this dance. Len said of all the celebrities who have been on the show, he’ll miss her the most because he loves watching her every week. The audience was chanting for her. Bruno said she may come from rock and roll royalty, but she has earned her place as a ballroom princess. Carrie Ann through tears, she doesn’t know if anyone has ever touched her as much as Kelly has. She said every time she watched Kelly dance, she was growing every step of the way.

Mya & Dmitry performed their jive from earlier in the season. It was just as fun as the first time they performed it! Bruno said Mya was sharp, slick, never missed a beat. He said she never dropped her standards throughout the season. Carrie Ann said every season, someone sets the pace and that has been Mya from day one. She called Mya a star. Len said they’ve had a few ups and downs but he never doubted her dance talent. He called her fantastic.

Donny & Kym performed the Argentine tango from earlier in the season. I’m glad they chose this. Donny couldn’t smile one bit during this performance. I like that it was not a showman’s dance. Carrie Ann said Donny has graced them with show stopping performances. She was glad he chose that as his final dance because it was artistry in motion. Len said Donny has been mostly good, sometimes bad and one dance was pretty ugly. But he never lost his performance. He said Donny finished strong. Bruno said Donny is a great performer. He said Donny reaches the dark side and uses it well.

The judges ranked the finalists for the final round. Here’s how they chose ‘em:

1. Donny & Kym – 30 points

2. Mya & Dmitry – 28 points

3. Kelly & Louis – 26 points

Wow!

Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower danced to “Puppy Love” performed by Donny. Do they have something to tell us? The song started slow, then got fast and the dance included a great lift and lots of tumbling from Louie. Donny gave them two thumbs up. Samantha said Chelsie & Louie are not dating. OK. I believe that.

Michael Irvin & Jerry Rice perform a dance off. Jerry performed with Anna Trebunskaya, while Michael got his partner, Anna Demidova, back. I’m giving Michael the edge because he has a more intense dance face. That said, watching these two dance, then fight over a football made me realize why they did not make it to the finals. It was fun. Not great. The judges awarded the mirror ball ring to Michael. There was celebrating. Then, the judges stopped that. They decided the battle of the bodies goes to Jerry.

Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff performed their quick step.

Miss Piggy was backstage with Cloris Leachman, Jerry Springer, Steve Wozniak and Joanna Krupa. They all seemed to be afraid of Miss Piggy. Huh? Then, those four took the stage to do a competition mambo. Cloris stood still for a bit as Corky seemed to shake her to life. The Woz did a lot of hobbling about in a pink boa. Jerry still made me a bit uncomfortable (I was afraid he might hurt himself). Cloris & Corky were the first eliminated. Jerry & Edyta were booted. How could Joanna not shine here? She’s left with The Woz? Then, a partner switch. Steve & Karina were booted. Surprise, surprise! Joanna wins. Is this how the judges reward her for not making the finals? Ah, the dance ends with the couple’s signature move – only in reverse (not dirty talk, it was Joanna holding Derek).

Whitney returned to perform “I Want To Dance With Somebody.” Again, mostly talking the lyrics. FF.

Now, finally down to the business. The third place finishers: Kelly & Louis.

The winners of that ugly mirror ball trophy: Donny & Kym.

That’s it. See you in the Spring!

Eric Z | Nov 19, 2009

Today's screenshot of TED.com, Fair Use

About a year ago, I came across a “TED talk” on YouTube. I soon found out that I was late to the game on this one. If you have known about these talks since the 1980s, good for you. If you haven’t heard of the TED talks, you may have an afternoon of online video streaming in front of you.

The words behind the acronym say much for why everyone should be interested: Technology, Entertainment, Design. From the TED website, we learn that the small nonprofit began with the impetus to showcase “ideas worth spreading.” From musicians to psychologists, to famous figures like Jane Goodall and Al Gore, the TED talks cover so many arenas of knowledge that it cannot help but spark the imagination. No wonder Rosie O’Donnell traded in a Cher concert meet-and-greet for tickets to the TED talks care of Kathy Griffin/Steve Wozniak, all seen on The D-List’s season 4. TED talks beat Cher hands down.

If you gave a TED talk, what would it be about? After viewing a few, one may realize the best ideas are those that at first seem the least likely. A few examples of some wild ideas are below, but please explore the TED site. As Martha says, “It’s a good thing.”

Dan Gilbert’s fascinating look at the usefulness of happiness:

Aubrey De Grey suggest we will live until 1,000:

Evelyn Glennie tells us how we can listen without our ears:

TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) has a wonderful story today about an eBay auction for an original Apple I computer, which starts out at $50,000. And what do you get for your winning bid?  TUAW explains:

“A non-working Apple I motherboard, the original shipping box (with the return address being the home of Steve Jobs’ parents), and the original manual, complete with schematics on how to take the motherboard and build a workable computer out of it.

“The original full-page advertisement for Apple was included with each Apple I. This features the original Apple ‘Isaac Newton’ logo that was designed by the third founder of Apple, Ronald Wayne. Wayne also wrote the Apple I manual. Finally, you’ll get a photograph of every other owner of this computer. The existing owner has a picture of himself, the computer, and Steve Wozniak that he’s including.”

By April of 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computer. The Apple I, their first product, was the first single-circuit board computer. It had a video interface, 8K of RAM and a keyboard. Its processor, the 6502 designed by Rockwell, cost a mere $25.

The computer, originally mounted on plywood with components visible, was first unveiled at a meeting of the now-famous Homebrew Computer Club which was based in Palo Alto, CA. A local computer dealer (The Byte Show) ordered 100 units, provided Wozniak and Jobs agreed to assemble the kits for customers. In all, 200 were built and sold for $666.66 each.

This is an extraordinary specimen of the Apple I - widely acknowledged to be the first hobby/home computer ever built. And the important archive of ephemera included in the package makes it practically unique. TUAW’s writeup is accompanied by several thumbnails of documents packaged together with the computer (including the cover of the manual, above).

However, there is one caveat: if you happen to be the successful bidder, you are asked to travel to Roseville, California to pick it up due to the irreplaceable nature of the Apple I. So what are you waiting for?! The holidays are right around the corner!

Emozione Apple – Fabbricare sogni nel XXI secolo

In poco più di trent’anni l’azienda fondata da Steve Jobs e Steve Wozniak in un garage della Silicon Valley si è trasformata in un colosso mondiale che ha cambiato per tre volte la nostra società. La prima volta definendo l’idea di Personal Computer, la seconda creando il mercato della musica digitale con l’iPod e la terza reinventando il telefono cellulare con l’iPhone. Le tecniche di ideazione, produzione e commercializzazione dei prodotti di Apple sono diventate una lezione fondamentale per i manager di qualsiasi settore. Ma la storia di Apple è ancor più avvincente quando si scopre il contesto culturale nel quale l’azienda è nata e si analizza in profondità l’impatto sempre maggiore che sta avendo sulla società di oggi. In questa seconda edizione, ampliata, nuovi dettagli arricchiscono il quadro di un’azienda in constante trasformazione, capace di reinventarsi continuando a innovare.

La storia di Apple è una storia beat nel vero senso della parola, una storia di battiti dei cuori di persone che hanno sempre creduto nelle loro idee e che navigando controvento sono riusciti ad imporle ed anche farle diventare il business più redditizio degli ultimi tempi.. I successi di Apple nascono dalla forza di una visione innovativa che ascolti le esigenze profinde delle persone e sa realizzarle in maniera semplice ed efficace..

Grazie di tutto Steve..

Titolo	Emozione Apple. Fabbricare sogni nel XXI secolo
Autore	Dini Antonio
Prezzo	€ 19,00
Dati	2008, 207 p., brossura, 2 ed.
Editore	Il Sole 24 Ore Libri (collana Mondo economico)

[Steve Wozniak], Last of the freelance hackers and Greatest swordfighter in the world, lives a hacker life you couldn’t even dream about. The folks over at medGadget ran into him and learned about his watch. In their interview (embedded after the break) [Steve] shows off the Nixie tube wristwatch that we can only assume he created himself.

The watch consists of two tiny tubes, a PCB, and battery. There must be an accelerometer in there because the display is switched off unless the watch is held at a certain configurable angle. Once held in the correct position the display flashes the hours, then the minutes.

The time is set by two buttons inside the watch’s case. [Steve] goes on to explain the trepidation his fellow passengers have when he disassembles the watch mid-flight and starts to monkey around with the buttons inside. Not to be stopped at electronic tomfoolery, he also shares his delight in sneaking ceramic knives on board so that he can properly cut his steaks.

Lifestyle aside, the small Nixie clock packages we’ve seen don’t even come close to this. We assume this is pretty hard on the battery and wonder if the watch gets hot if you’re stuck in a long meeting and constantly looking at the time. We can get over both of those limitations just for the cool factor alone.

Update: Reader [Stephen] left a comment pointing to the origin of  the watch. It is controlled by a PIC microprocessor, boasts a four-month battery life at 50 viewings per day, and there’s some code available.  It is for sale but currently out of stock.

I just typed ”Famous Wrong Predictions” into google…

“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.”  Opponents to Edwin L Drakes plan to drill for oil in 1849.
 
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles in 1962.
 
“I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face not Gary Cooper.”  Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in “Gone With The Wind.”
 
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”  H.M. Warner on having talking in movies? Warner Brothers, 1927.
 
“So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’”  Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer.
 
“You’d better learn secretarial skills or else get married.” – Modelling agency, rejecting Marilyn Monroe in 1944.
 
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

 Does anybody actually know anything?

Hace poco tuve la oportunidad de ver la película “Hackers 2: Operación Takedown”, la cual también recibe el nombre de Takedown (a secas) o Track Down que narra los años previos a la definitiva detención de Kevin Mitnick (nombre clave Cóndor), uno de los hackers y phreakers más famosos del mundo.

Hasta tanto llegó el mito de Mitnick, que en un documental que también vi hace poco llamado “Historia secreta de los piratas informáticos”, él mismo narra que tras su primera detención se le prohibía acercarse a un teléfono, porque en opinión del fiscal tenía la capacidad de provocar una guerra nuclear. Por cierto, recomiendo el documental aunque sólo sea para ver la parte dedicada a Steve Wozniak en la que se podrá entender mejor como fue el inicio de los ordenadores para uso personal (tampoco tiene desperdicio la primera parte dedicada al Capitán Crunch), cómo fue el inicio de Apple y como finalmente los intereses comerciales acabaron con el Homebrew Computer Club (club formado por amantes de la informática en el que se fabricaron ordenadores, otros componentes hardware y software y que tenía como base compartir globalmente el conocimiento) y en esa misma parte además entender cuál fue el origen del concepto hacker, que nada tiene que ver con las connotaciones negativas con las que se redefinió posteriormente.

Esta película es una adaptación de la novela Takedown, escrita por John Markoff (periodista que contribuyó a la fama de Mitnick y al que se le acusa tanto por el propio Mitnick como por sus seguidores de haber exagerado las acciones de éste y crear un mito y un estado de alarma que no se correspondía con la realidad) y Tsutomu Shimomura (un expero en seguridad informática que colaboró en el proceso de localización y detención de Mitnick).

Independientemente de que John Markoff contribuyese a construir el mito, tuvo también mucho que ver en la construcción del mismo que diferentes agencias federales de Estados Unidos lo estuvieran persiguiendo tres años, hasta que definitivamente lo detuvieron en 1995, teniendo en cuenta que lo acusaban de delitos muy serios.

Independientemente de que la película sea muy mejorable, esté basada en un libro que se basa en uno de los dos puntos de vista en esta historia y se le hayan incluido toques cinematográficos que muy bien podrían sobrar, os recomiendo que si tenéis la oportunidad la veais, ya que podréis ver en ella algunos ejemplos de combinación de técnica e ingeniería social.

Una vez que Mitnick quedó completamente liberado, creó su propia empresa consultora en seguridad informática y de la información, no dudo que sea capaz de hacer bien este trabajo, ya que entiendo que su experiencia, desde el otro lado le permite ver con mayor facilidad los resquicios existentes.

Como se puede apreciar en la película, por encima de la capacidad técnica de Mitnick (que era y es muy grande), se encontraba su extraordinaria capacidad para aplicar lo que se denomina Ingeniería Social y que tanto para él como para muchos expertos en seguridad es donde se encuentra el verdadero punto débil de la seguridad informática (estoy de acuerdo con ellos, porque cualquier barrera software y hardware que se ponga puede ser sorteada si se consigue la información necesaria aplicando técnicas de Ingeniería Social. Es decir, el problema de la seguridad informática se centra más en el factor humano que en el factor software o hardware (sin olvidar como es lógico estos últimos). Mitnick pudo comprobar esto de primera mano, ya que mucha de la información que conseguía recopilar para acceder a un sistema o incluso la misma información que quería conseguir la obtenía a través de llamadas telefónicas.

De hecho Mitnick, establece cuatro principios que son comunes a todas las personas (sacado de Wikipedia):

- Todos queremos ayudar.
- El primer movimiento siempre es de confianza hacia el otro.
- No nos gusta decir No.
- A todos nos gusta que nos alaben.

Pero, ¿en qué consiste exáctamente la Ingeniería Social aplicada al concepto de la seguridad informática? Es tan simple que asusta, consiste en obtener información mediante la manipulación de un tercero, aplicando técnicas como hacerse pasar por otra persona, como representante de una empresa, una empresa, etc…, la cual es directamente la que se busca o que puede servir de base para obtener otra información de carácter más confidencial o directamente para provocar fraudes (robos). Estas técnicas de ingeniería social se pueden aplicar hablando directamente con otra persona, a través del teléfono y a través de los medios que proporciona Internet (páginas web, correo electrónico (un ejemplo lo tenemos en el Phishing), mensajería instantánea, redes sociales, etc…).

Combatir la Ingeniería Social es difícil y requiere una importante concienciación de la ciudadanía en la misma (por ejemplo, en los inicios del Phishing seguro que había más gente que caía que ahora), esta concienciación se consigue mediante la información y la educación. No obstante, los timos han existido prácticamente desde siempre, se han adaptado al entorno (han migrado gran parte de ellos a Internet) y se seguirán realizando, además, por mucha información y educación que se reciba (además de no llegar a todo el mundo) es muy complicado que siempre estemos con la alarma puesta y ahí es donde está el problema.

¿No os ha pasado nunca que tras hablar con un operador/a de telemarketing te da la sensación de que le has facilitado demasiada información?, ¿no os ha pasado nunca que os ha llamado alguien al trabajo os ha preguntado cosas, le habéis dado una respuesta y al final no habéis preguntado ni quien era? Esto es una clara demostración de lo que comenta Mitnick, es decir, sin necesidad de mala fé por parte del interlocutor somos capaces de dar información que de alguna u otra forma podría ser utilizada para beneficio del mismo, ¿cuánto puede conseguir un “profesional” de la ingeniería social en obtener información que le resulta de interés?.

Eu costumo utilizar o termo prima donna (a estrela nas óperas) para me referir à galera difícil de dirigir e mais difícil ainda de digerir. As primas donnas, ao contrário do que geralmente pensamos, não são os mais experientes, ou os mais graduados.  Geralmente, os egos maiores são encontrados dentre os jovens, particularmente técnicos e especialistas, que se acham insubstituíveis, “a última bolacha do pacote”, e que costumam olhar o resto mundo com um desdém condescendente.

Eu que já sou “um bode velho” não devia ter mais essa reação, mas cada vez que presencio a cena de um jovem esnobe escutando com um sorrizinho irônico a opinião de pessoas mais velhas, e muitas vezes menos conhecedoras do assunto, meu impulso é correr para o banheiro para vomitar. Já vi esse filme muitas vezes e nunca assisti a um happy end para o lado do babaca esnobe. Feliz, ou infelizmente, temos que conviver com esses ingênuos por duas razões:
1.    Todos nós, em maior ou menor grau, já fomos idiotas um dia.
2.    Muitos desses idiotas serão curados, pelo tempo e pelas porradas, e darão uma contribuição valiosa para o negócio.

O grande desafio é: como gerenciar egos que não cabem dentro das salas de reunião? Existem três caminhos possíveis e eu já testei todos. Como nem todas as abordagens funcionaram, gostaria de compartilhar com vocês minha experiência.
Caminho 1: Porrada neles!
Esqueça. Isso não funciona com ninguém na empresa, muito menos com as primas donnas. As porradas exacerbam ainda mais os egos grandes, tornando-os ainda mais agressivos e esnobes. A porrada só vai magnificar o problema.

Caminho 2: Escute humildemente ao pretensioso e tente dialogar.
Vai funcionar se você tiver todo o tempo do mundo à sua disposição. Até porque com o tempo os babacas se tornam experientes e a ficha cai. Eles acabam descobrindo o óbvio: ninguém sabe tudo sempre e a gente morre não sabendo nada.

Caminho 3: Observe, se prepare e enquadre.
Os pretensiosos costumam ser agressivos. Eles só baixam as orelhas quando alguém os pega no contrapé, provando que estão errados, ou que existe uma alternativa, eventualmente melhor, que eles não tinham pensado. Esse caminho funciona, mas dá trabalho porque o líder terá que se preparar para enfrentar suas primas donnas no campo delas. Isso requer estudo e preparo, que somados à experiência maior dará bons resultados.

Uma forma elementar de convencer o pretensioso é colocá-lo numa fria, quando você sabe que a estratégia dele não dará certo, avisá-lo disso antecipadamente, deixar o cara fazer m…. Depois é só relembrar: ”eu bem que te avisei”. Na próxima vez que ele tentar ir por um caminho sabidamente sem sentido, aí sim será sua vez de dar uma de sargento: simplesmente não permita.

Uma maneira de reforçar a atitude colaborativa é relembrar, através de analogias, que raramente (na verdade quase nunca) é o expert no assunto que se dá melhor no comando:

• Os grandes técnicos de qualquer tipo de esporte raramente foram craques quando praticavam (bons exemplos são o Zagalo, ou o Muricy Ramalho, ou o Bernardinho).
• Os grandes mestres acadêmicos não são cientistas e raramente os cientistas dão grandes professores.
• O melhor gerente de vendas que eu conheci nunca foi vendedor, tendo passado direto de diretor financeiro para diretor de vendas.
• O cara que salvou a IBM da falência nos anos 90 e reinventou o negócio, Lou Gestner, veio da Amex e Nabisco, nunca tendo trabalhado com tecnologia anteriormente. Lou contou sua saga no melhor livro de negócios que li naminha vida: “Quem disse que os elefantes também não podem dançar”. Quem não leu, leia.
• O gênio criativo da Apple é o Steve Wozniak  (apelidado de Wizz Woz, em referencia ao Wizard of Oz), mas quem faz a diferença no negócio é o Steve Jobs, um intuitivo. Apesar do Wizz Woz ser realmnte uma prima donna, vale conhecê-lo proque ele é certamente uma figura.
• O Lula é o presidente da república mais popular de todos os tempos e nunca atuou no executivo anteriormente (no legislativo teve um mandato que detestou). Não foi nem sindico de condomínio…

Tá convencido, ou quer mais. Agora pratique, esteja você de qualquer dos lados.

Get your geek on with these amazing jack-o-lanterns.

From Star Trek to Star Wars and everything in between.

There are comic book heroes, an original computer nerd, video game stars, apps and robots.

Something for anyone who is willing “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Go over to JustUsLeeg and check out all the rest of the geek jack-o-lanterns.

And once you’ve soaked up the geeky glory, go get yourself a pumpin and get to carving.

Um raríssimo Apple I foi vendido no eBay pela modesta quantia de 18 mil dólares, um pouco menos que 36 mil reais! A venda superou as estimativas do vendedor, que eram entre US$14 e 16 mil.

Tá certo que esse computador tem mais valor sentimental do que outra coisa (Ok, o valor é TODO sentimental), porque pagar o valor de 3 Macs Pro aqui no Brasil por um computador feito de madeira e com a palavra Apple talhada a mão por Steve Wozniak, sendo que o mesmo se estiver funcionando será realmente um milagre… é um pouco demais.

Eu confesso que adoraria ver de perto um desses, e conhecer mais profundamente a história da terceira melhor marca do mundo mas nunca pagaria esta quantia absurda.

Só pra constar que foi mesmo um Apple I legítimo vendido no eBay, sua placa mãe foi assinada pelo próprio Wozniak.

The other night, it was impressed upon my mind the importance of delegation when it comes to huge projects and goals.  I pondered upon that word “delegation” for several hours, thinking that it was the lack of that particular skill that sometimes makes some projects fall short.  I reviewed all the things I’ve done in the past and I realized that I actually delegate things quite a bit.

I dug a little deeper and found one important factor that made the lightbulb above my head go bling (with my friend Aly’s help)!!!  What’s even more vital than delegation is DRIVING FORCE.  Each project, goal or anything that has to deal with ambition requires a driving force behind it to be accomplished properly.   Call it whatever you wish – leadership, passion, soul, hunger, motivating factor.

Furthermore,  I realized that most people can successfully only be the driving force of one goal at a time….and when I mean goal, I mean something that is an absolutely incredible goal.  For instance – Steve Jobs = Apple.  Larry Ellison = Oracle.  Bill Gates = Microsoft….and at a much smaller scale, Joe Schmoe = Joe Schmoe’s very successful Craw Fish Diner. The magnitude of success is of course determined by that person’s vision, happiness , destiny and resources.  We can’t all be a Larry Page of Google.  I hope I didn’t contradict myself here…..the term success or incredible is relative.  Plus, if there is more than one person involved as the driving force, being united is critical.

I looked at the things I’m working on and was appalled….I mean downright SHOCKED to find out that I’m the driving force behind not one, but  5 major projects.  After vomiting for a few minutes…looks like I’m back to the drawing board.  I agonizingly and reluctantly let go of some things while assigning the “driving force” title away to others.  First, I needed someone with a solid knack of getting things done…a natural from birth, yet someone who is fresh, relatively unproven, very driven and who already believes in the project.  Task #1: I asked Dani to be the heart, mind, soul, and face / CEO of beginningfilmmaker.com.   If there is a person who can potentially turn coal into diamond, it would be her.  Now I need her more than ever to figure that all out.  How to make it work? ….. That’s to be determined!!!!  But she may have saved me from a potential heart attack.

What I have on my wall is  Steve Jobs’ Commencement address given at Stanford University.  In essence, what he said is summarized as follows: “…the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it.”  He also mentioned that if one looks back at the past, that person can see certain events as dots in their lives.  Connect the dots and life becomes miraculous.  Everything makes sense.

I already know what I love to do, and that is creating music.  I need to give my full dedication and effort to make that work.  Me and my talented music partner in crime Wendy Girl are already the driving force(s) behind that goal.  We know it, we want it, we are passionate about it, and there’s no way it will not succeed.  It’s inevitable.   While others, such as Dani, may be at the beginning of the search for that holy grail of passion…..and I know someday significant events will clearly manifest themselves in a big way for talented people  like her.  And I can’t wait to find out how I’ll be privileged enough to be  part of  the  “dots” in another person’s life.

On September, 19, 2009, I attended a  TiE Silicon Valley event featuring remarks by Aneesh Chopra (federal Chief Technology Officer and Associate Director for Technology, Office of Science & Technology Policy, U.S. federal Executive Branch), Dow Wilson (Corporate Executive Vice President and President, Oncology Systems, Varian Medical Systems), Dave Anderson (President and CEO, Headsprout), Scott Lang (Chairman, president and CEO, Silver Spring Networks, Zia Yusuf (Global Ecosystem and Partner Group, SAP), and Steve Wozniak (co-founder, Apple).

Mr. Chopra’s remarks focused on three areas of initiatives – building blocks of innovation (including secure infrastructure, research-and-development collaboration, and 21st-century workforce), innovation for national priorities (including healthcare information-technology, smart grid, and education technology), and open-government culture (including initiatives and platforms).  I was also intrigued by education-oriented remarks from Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wozniak.

After the formal program, I was pleased to have opportunities to …

• Talk briefly with Mr. Chopra.  During the formal program, I had submitted a written question regarding initiatives to foster the development of information systems that help people understand the appropriateness and risks of making decisions based on the information the people are using.
• Talk briefly with each of Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wozniak and offer to send each some thoughts about making better matches between learners and sources of learning. (See “Guide Your Learning Initiatives,” via this link.)
• Talk briefly with Mr. Lang about ’smart metering’ and related services from energy utilities, based in part on my being cognizant of such an effort (regarding agricultural refrigeration facilities) when I led a company-wide innovation program for Pacific Gas and Electric Company during the 1980s.
• Be introduced to Kiran Kini Malhotra, Executive Director, TiE Silicon Valley .

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Click for information about Thomas J. Buckholtz

Historias como las de Steve Jobs y Steve Wozniak, son todavía posibles en la actualidad. En la informática queda todavía muchísimo por inventar y la clave es encontrar una idea que cale en la comunidad o sea lo suficientemente innovadora para crear una nueva tendencia o interesar a una empresa como complemento o incluso motor de sus productos.

No hay nada más que ver, por ejemplo, el cambio de enfoque que en Internet produjo la web 2.0 y las distintas soluciones técnicas que han salido desde entonces (y que no paran de salir ya que soluciones como Twitter, Facebook, Flicker, Picasa, etc… son relativamente recientes). En el mundo 2.0 todavía no está todo explotado, la clave es seguir innovando.

La administración electrónica es otro campo donde todavía queda mucho por hacer, porque incluso aunque sea un concepto un tanto antiguo (en realidad muy desgastado por haberse hablado tanto, aunque todavía quede mucho por hacer) el grado de penetración de la misma tanto en España como en el resto del mundo deja muchísimo margen de maniobra.

La Green IT, la cloud computing e incluso la grid computing (aunque este más antiguo) son otros campos relativamente nuevos en los que la capacidad de innovación es prácticamente ilimitada, ya que pese a que hay mucha teoría sobre la mesa, el número de implementaciones realizadas en estas tecnologías todavía es muy reducido (en relación a todo lo que se habla y se escribe de ellos) y el número de implantaciones también lo es (para el mercado tan grande que existe).

En el mundo del desarrollo puro y duro de software tambień hay mucho que inventar y potenciar, como por ejemplo los generadores de código.

Estos son simplemente algunos ejemplos de conceptos o tendencias en los cuales se puede seguir innovando, pero las posibilidades son prácticamente ilimitadas.

Por tanto, todavía (y durante muchísimo años) habrá lugar para que aquellas personas creativas y con talento sigan poniendo sobre la mesa soluciones innovadoras que puedan cambiar sus vidas y hacer el mundo un poquito mejor.