Shortcuts To Success

In visiting with the founders of a few new startups recently, I sadly discovered that the most frequently expressed “business plan” involved building a product markedly similar to an existing, successful one. Even more disappointing, none of the plans focused on improving the copied product but rather in duplicating its functionality to the point of attracting sufficient attention to result in the company being acquired, allowing the founder to cash out. Money reigned supreme over innovation. Endeavoring to expand functionality or improve a concept was shunned in favor of seeking a quick buyout and a big payday.
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Invention, Innovation and Imitation

I have come to the conclusion that there are basically three types of technologists: Inventors, Innovators and Imitators. Inventors advance technology to the next plane. Innovators push the vertical plane of existing technology, typically inspiring new inventions. Imitators broaden the horizontal plane of existing technology, frequently driving innovations.
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It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

(Note: With apologies to Yogi Berra.)

I recently received an eMail with the following joke…

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.
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The More We Connect, The Less We Communicate

Communication is an art form. Those who have ever listened to or been in the presence of a great speaker know exactly what I mean. A gifted orator can captivate and inspire an audience.

Communication comprises more than mere words. The ability to effectively articulate your message, whether written or verbal, gives impact. The added benefit of personal face-to-face, eye-to-eye exchanges allow for shared energy and raw expression.

As people rely more heavily on eMail, Facebook, Twitter and text messaging, they tend to sacrifice the art of communication in favor of merely “connecting.” Complete sentences, grammar, and even spelling are cast aside for the sake of brevity. Thoughts and ideas become a series of snippets, abbreviations, and acronyms. Sound bites at best, subject to misinterpretation and imperfection. True expression becomes lost.
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Personal Privacy in the Social Networking Age

Recent updates by Facebook have many of its users pounding their keyboards in protest. While the uproar may possibly result in some minor tweaks, the reality remains that it will most likely be short-lived because most users have become so addicted to socializing that they will eventually accept the intrusion. Some might choose to drop Facebook for Google+ in protest, but the vast majority will not be willing to go cold turkey with social networking.

Personal Privacy and Social Networking exemplify oxymorons, just like Network Security, Virtual Reality and Legally Drunk. Something “personal” implies private not “social,” and any expectation of “privacy” cannot coexist with “networking” or “socializing.” Such reasoning resembles constructing a billboard of your life in your front yard while expecting that only your best friends will notice.
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One Cyber Tick Closer On The Doomsday Countdown Clock

If you are a network manager, a computer systems administrator or a computer security specialist, you have undoubtedly heard about the Flame trojan, a malware program that redefines ones concept of espionage and warfare on the cyber front.

In a recent post on The Weekly Standard magazine’s Web site, Jonathan V. Last provides an interesting perspective of the Flame pertaining to what Flame means in terms of the evolution of malware.

Bride of Stuxnet
Webcraft as spycraft.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/bride-stuxnet_646424.html

While accurately describing Flame as “the most spectacular computer worm ever made”, Jonathan Last minimizes the true threat it presents by categorizing it as “the perfect spy.”
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