Exactly what Infosys must be doing with its cash hoard...!

Instead of grumbling about client indecision on discretionary tech spends or reminding doubting analysts about its choice for marathon over sprint, Indian outsourcing vendors like Infosys must be focusing on acquiring smart startups like NICIRA that VMware is seeking out to buy giving it a massive leap in its technology focus.

With its NVP, or network virtualization platform, Nicira (pronounced "nice era") will ostensibly do for networks what VWware has done for computers -- magically create multiple virtual networks that work together in tandem but unleash much more computing power than a single network could ever achieve.

Shibulal, are you listening...?  It's time you let loose those purse strings after real tech innovators instead of chasing me too System Integrators.  That will be a great favor not just to your existing shareholders but also a nice parting pat to those past employees waiting to liquidate their stock options at a fairly reasonable price that seems a daunting task now.. :-)

"Happy Birthday, spreadsheet"

PC Mag columnist and tech critic John Dvorak on spread sheets.

"2009 marks the 30-year anniversary of the now-ubiquitous spreadsheet program. And society as a whole has deteriorated ever since its invention. It was the spreadsheet that triggered the PC revolution, with VisiCalc the original culprit. Can anyone say that we've actually benefited from its invention? Look around: I think we've suffered.

For one thing, the spreadsheet created the "what if" society. Instead of moving forward and progressing normally, the what-if society questions each and every move we make. It second-guesses everything. Because of the spreadsheet we've been forced to "do the numbers" whenever possible; once the numbers are in the spreadsheet, the what-if process can begin.

In fact, the spreadsheet has resulted in the rise of the once-lowly accountant/bean counter to a position of influence—and often the executive suite. How often in years past—the pre-spreadsheet era, that is—did an accountant take over a company? When and why did the CFO become a title? These people, at best, were once known as comptrollers.

I don't blame any of these folks for taking advantage of the spreadsheet and the evolution of what-if. But why give them the keys to the car when you knew they couldn't drive? Look around and see what's happened. You can thank the spreadsheet for all of this junk. Happy birthday."

Well, putting an accountant in the driver's seat is certainly not advisible if the business seeks innovation $$ and relies a lot on open pipe R&D. They would never come to terms with something that yields return over the long term, something that is an exclusive preserve of the visionary. But guess who gets called in when you need those dollars to kick it in? Go to an investor and the first thing he would ask is "show me the RoI" ; and the bean counter is ushered in - that is to say, spread his sheet :-)

.

"Daddy, I just wanna watch TV"

Alright, it's time for some reality check.... Are we wired a bit too much?

.

This is the question Larry Magid too had dealt with at his blog. Excerpts –

"I’m not exactly sure who “they” are but I seem to remember that they told us technology would make our lives easier and more efficient. I’m not so sure. Let’s start with our TVs. I’m old enough to remember when TV had two dials - a volume control and a channel changer that let you go from channel 2 to 13. The high-definition TV in my living room is connected to a satellite receiver/personal video recorder with hundreds of channels and several levels of menus. The TV itself has infinitely more controls than the old ones and scores of optional inputs. But there’s more. To hear the TV you have to turn on the audio system, and because I also have a DVD player and an Apple TV but only one optical audio input, I sometimes have to unplug one device and plug in another.

Then there is the gaggle of remote controls. In theory, I could consolidate them with a universal remote. But with new types of equipment coming out all the time from companies that barely existed a couple of years ago, it’s hard for universal remote makers to keep up. Of course there are always the super-universal programmable remotes like Logitech’s Harmony 1000 but do I really want to spend $499 on a remote and invest the time to program it from a PC or a Mac?

.

Several years ago I conducted a family training session to teach everyone how to use our new AV system, to which my daughter complained, “Daddy, all I want to do is watch TV.”

.

Nothing private

When your life is an open book, others get less snoopy.

Hasan Elahi, the Bangladeshi-born American found that out the hard way. The US government mistakenly listed him on its terrorist watch list where once you're on, it's hard to get off. Wading through those turbulent times he discovered the best way to protect his privacy is - to give it away. Now he does it in style, by making his life an open book – he webcasts his life 24 / 7 in his site to convince the Feds of his innocence. A GPS device in his pocket reports his real-time physical location on a map.

.

Extreme transparency ?

Not so sure, but a nice way to keep off Guantanamo bay for nationalistically suspect. Elahi also figures the day is coming when so many people shove so much personal data online that it will put Big Brother out of business. Plus, no ambitious agent is going to score a big intelligence triumph by snooping into your movements when there's a Web page broadcasting the Big Mac you ate four minutes ago in Boise, Idaho. [ Hat tip : Vinnie Mirchandani ]

.