I've posted about this before. There's this web 2.0 hype engine going on, but one thing that seems in common among the "web 2.0" companies is the lack of a business plan that leads to real revenue and a solid business. It's as if the same people who did the first Internet bubble in the late 90's didn't learn their lesson, and they want to ride the same game again.

For years car makers have been putting computerized control systems in our cars. This gives more control over how the cars function, gives service shops more data with which to diagnose problems, etc. But it isn't readily accessible to the end user, hence isn't readably usable. Or, is it?

CarChip E/X OBD II Data Logger, USB Version

As I've said, I have lived in Silicon Valley for over 15 years, the whole time partaking with the peculiar life of the technology industry centered here. As someone who is also having a spiritual journey, I was drawn to this book. I wanted to understand a little about the interface between spirituality and the technology we work on here.

A couple years ago in my job, the managers decided to make me the "architect". I work in a software team, so the architecture I was to create was around the functioning of our software. Unfortunately the managers I work for did not also give me much hint about what they meant by "architect", which led to a long spiral of confusion, not meeting expectations, and so forth. This book provided the only ray of hope in that mess.

The San Francisco Chronicle has an
interview with Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg.

The main purpose is so he can bash SF's plan to build a municipally owned WiFi network, thus harming the possibility of Verizon having customers for their own service. But along the way he decided to let loose with a few other zingers:

"Why in the world would you think your (cell) phone would work in your house?" he said. "The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator; they want it to work in the basement."

Well, speaking as someone who has ditched the landline in favor of the cell phone, I take offense at his remark. Of course the cell phone is supposed to work indoors. That's the promise of this device, that it will replace land line telephones.