Viewpoint  November 7, 2008, 12:01AM EST

At best, technology can help us do things faster, but it doesn’t do a good job predicting things or even helping managers make decisions

the crystal ball courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

By Gene Marks

O.K., so the market crashed, and we’re in a recession. There’s also some good news to go around. Warren Buffett’s buying. The elections are finally over. The Phillies won the World Series. I’ve got a year’s supply of Halloween candy pilfered from my kids.

The Wall Street crisis has also taught me a great deal about technology.

For years I’ve listened to software companies tell us that, with technology, our decision-making will be made easier. And we’ll be making better decisions. We’ll have better facts. We’ll be able to do better analysis—in small businesses, large enterprises, and financial-services firms.

Read the rest of this entry »

Motortrend, November 2008

Economy Car Wrapped in a Candy Shell

Kia Soul Front View courtesy of Motortrend.com

By Allyson Harwood

Those who were disappointed with the upsized and redesigned second-generation Scion xB may have a new vehicle to consider. The 2010 Kia Soul, introduced as a concept at the 2006 Detroit auto show and teased for the last nearly three years, contains the fuel efficiency and smart interior packaging of the first xB, wrapped in a likeable, edgy body unlike anything Kia has ever sold here before.

Read the rest of this entry »

Information - Nov 6, 2008 11:31 AM

Steve Ballmer courtesy of Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Posted by Eric Zeman

Speaking at an investor meeting in Australia, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Steve Ballmer said he doesn’t get the business model behind Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Android platform. Some might say the same thing about Windows Mobile at the moment.

Ballmer just has the best quotes. Nobody says the stuff he does in public. At the very least, it provides for some entertainment on an otherwise gray Thursday morning (in the NYC metro area, anyway).

Ballmer was speaking at the Telstra Investor Day conference in Sydney earlier today. Eventually someone brought up Android. Ballmer said, “This is [Google's] first phone, they’re not easy. Let’s see how they do.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Silicon Alley Insider - Dan Frommer | November 6, 2008 6:15 PM

Get stock alert | courtesy of bbc.co.uk, AFP

An offer for our readers from NYC-based startup Alerts4All: 400 invitations to their private beta.

What is it? They monitor stocks in real time — including price, volume, and technical indicators — and send out alerts via email, text message, or RSS.

Their private beta will last for a few more weeks, we’re told, after which you’ll get a 30-day trial subscription. After that, they’ll want $9 per month, which includes an upgrade to real-time data — not 20-minute delayed.

To sign up, click through either of these two links (200 invitations per link) and follow the instructions.

www.alerts4all.com

source: SAI

InformationWeek - November 5, 2008 06:34 PM

Pioneering use of Web 2.0 and social networking technologies by the president-elect’s campaign has seemingly transformed politics, and could influence government as well.

President-elect Senator Barack Obama stands on stage with his family as he is greeted by supporters during his election night rally after being declared the winner of the 2008 Presidential Campaign in Chicago, November 4, 2008. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

By Mitch Wagner

The 2008 presidential election marked two great changes of the guard. The biggest immediate change, of course, was the election of an African-American Democrat as the next president of the United States.

But perhaps a bigger change over the long term was the crowning of the Internet as the king of all political media. It was the end of the era of television presidency that started with JFK, and the beginning of the Internet presidency.

“Barack Obama built the biggest network of supporters we’ve seen, using the Internet to do it,” Joe Trippi, an Internet political and business consultant who pioneered the use of the Internet in politics managing Howard Dean campaign in 2004, and who managed John Edwards’ campaign in this election, told InformationWeek. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that communication through YouTube and other social networks put him over the top.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Silicon Alley Insider - Eric Krangel | November 4, 2008 5:45 PM

Obama's Electronic "Get Out The Vote" Plan: Cell Phone Messages image

Obama was using a high-tech method to get young people out to the polls today: Text messages to their cell phones. Bloomberg:

The Obama campaign plans to use the millions of cell-phone numbers it has amassed over the past 22 months to blast its supporters with that message today..

The biggest concern for the Obama campaign is getting young people — who have registered in record numbers and shown unprecedented interest in surveys — to turn out. In 2004, only 45 percent of those under 30 showed up to vote, according to Census data, making them just 16 percent of the electorate that year.

Read the rest of this entry »