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May 31, 2007
LIVE Webcast: Cisco and BPCC Host New Media Summit
Cisco and Best Practices in Corporate Communications host the first annual New Media Summit
Who: Cisco® and Best Practices in Corporate Communications (BPCC)
What: Web 2.0 has changed how businesses not only communicate with their customers, partners, and shareholders but also how a company communicates and collaborates with its employees. Communications is fast becoming a competitive advantage for companies to compete on a global basis.
The corporate communications team at Cisco and the organization Best Practices in Corporate Communications invites you to join a global summit for communications professionals, journalists and bloggers to talk about the impact of new media in business communications.
Join us for a day of interactive discussions, best practice sharing, and expert speakers to learn how you can drive innovation and success using social networking and collaborative tools in your organization.
When: Tuesday, June 5, 2007, from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. PT
Where: You will be able to attend live via webcast.
Agenda after the jump.
Agenda:
9:00–9:45 AM PT
Keynote: “The Social Media Explosion,”
Dan Scheinman, SVP and GM, Media Solutions Group, Cisco
9:45-10:45
Measuring the ROI of Social Media
Moderator: Jen McClure, Executive Director, Society for New Communications Research, www.SCNR.org
Panelists:
• Katie Paine, President & CEO, KDPaine & Partners, LLC, Katie Paine’s PR Measurement Blog
• Adam Brown, Director of Digital Communications, The Coca-Cola Company
• Jeremiah Owyang, Director of Corporate Media Strategy, PodTech.net, Web Strategy Blog
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:00
The Changing Media Landscape: Convergence of Traditional and New Media
Moderator: John Earnhardt – Blogger in Chief, Cisco
Panelists:
• Eric Savitz, Barron’s West Coast Editor & Tech Trader Daily Blogger
• Dan Gillmor, Center for Citizen Media
• Dean Takahashi, Technology Columnist, San Jose Mercury News
• Tom Foremski, Silicon Valley Watcher
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:00
Internal Collaboration Tools & Strategies:
Moderator: Rick Wion, Web Strategy Director, GolinHarris
Panelists:
• William Wohl, Vice President of PTG Communications, SAP AG
• John Slavney, Director of Internal Communications, BP Americas
• Scott Wilder, Group Manager of Intuit Small Business Online Communities
• Terry McKenzie, Senior Director, Global Employee Communications and Communities, Sun
2:00-3:00
Communicating in Virtual Worlds
Moderator: Christian Renaud, Chief Architect of Virtual Worlds, Cisco
Panelists:
• Doug McDavid, Business Architect at the IBM Academy of Technology, IBM
• Reuben Steiger, CEO, Millions of Us, http://www.millionsofus.com/blog/
• Paul Steinberg, Intel Software Network, Intel
Posted by John Earnhardt at 10:01 AM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
May 30, 2007
Cisco and "D: All Things Digital"
For great coverage on "D: All Things Digital," please check out Barron's Eric Savitz blog, where he gives the down-low on John Chambers' talk there today, including, "Broadband ought to be at least 100 meg to every home." More coverage here.
For more, more coverage of D, also check out GigaOm, Dan Farber of ZDNet and Sean Garrett of 463 Communications...and, of course, WSJ.com's "D Notebook" which includes this entry on Cisco CEO John Chambers, "The Proud Plumber." And, last but not least, the VIDEO of Chambers on D's site.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 03:43 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Baby Poop is a Good Thing
It's 1:55AM this morning and I've just finished wiping my four-month old boy Jack's poo from my hands...he had what we call a "blow out." My mood is not the best. I'm tired...and, as I may have just mentioned, I just had a prodigious poo to deal with.
I'm changing Jack's outfit and having trouble with the zipper. I'm concentrating on getting his wiggling feet into the footie parts of his "Snuggle Saurus" pajamas...every time I get close, he manages to get a foot out. I may have mentioned I'm tired and at this point my patience is starting to wear a bit thin. As I was focused on the business end of things, I then decided to look at Jack's face and see if he was upset or what the trouble was with getting his feet in the pj's. He had the biggest grin on his face and when I looked at him he giggled. He was totally messing with me. He then "let" me put his feet in the pj's and zip him up. He just wanted a little nighttime attention and it taught me a lesson: I was getting frustrated for nothing. Baby poop and lack of sleep are both good things because it means there is a baby involved. It put things in perspective for me.
There are more important things in life than sleep (I never thought I would utter such words) and there are worse things in the world than a handful of baby poo. I like my job. I work at a great company...one of the most important technology companies in the world...if not THE most important. We do a lot of great things at Cisco and I don't want to belittle the impact that we have on wiring the world and bringing cool, relevant technology to market...however dealing with Jack's poo last night is more important than anything I do at work...(don't tell my boss.)
So, that's the update on my family....and my sleep deprived perspective...the latest on the Cisco family is that WebEx is now an official part of the Cisco team. The acquision closed yesterday. We're very excited about having WebEx as a part of the Cisco family. Welcome, WebEx'ers!!!
And, here's hoping that everyone out there has some baby poo to deal with...or your equivalent.
Recent picture of Jack...14 weeks old and already knows how to mess with his dad's mind.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 09:57 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 29, 2007
That’s a Wrap
Our time at the Cannes Film Festival is coming to a close. Over the last week we’ve talked to all sorts of actors, directors and others trying to make a name for themselves in the entertainment business. Outside of the personalities (whew), one of the more fascinating aspects of these conversations has been the widely differing opinions on whether technology is changing film making.
Opinions are fairly polarized on the subject, with the folks bullish on the digital opportunities being slightly in the minority – this despite some of the biggest buzz at Cannes this year coming from the U2 3D movie and the general growth of 3D technology.
In general, the vast entertainment machine seems to be quite happy making movies and enjoying the South of France as it always has. It will be interesting to see how perceptions change in the near future.
In a happy coincidence, I happened to be walking outside the Palais on my way back to the apartment when I got caught up in a crowd at a side entrance to the theatre. Fifteen minutes later, the cast of Ocean’s Thirteen (Yes, Anita, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and Elliot Gould) came rolling out. It was a true paparazzi moment and one I was only too happy to participate in.
After the stars sped off in their cars, I looked around the 100+ people capturing the scene on their cameras and saw that probably none of them were actually shooting film – all of them were using digital cameras and camcorders. If that isn’t a sign of what’s to come, I don’t know what is.
Posted by Scott Brown at 09:27 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 25, 2007
TelePresence on CBS Evening News
I may have mentioned our TelePresence technology from time to time. It is very cool and very easy to use. We say that 60% (or is is 80%?) of communication is non-verbal and TelePresence allows you to feel like you are in the same room talking with someone even if you are in San Jose, CA and they are in London (for instance). (Yesterday during a demonstration of the technology one of the participants said that he felt like he could reach out and touch the other participants, quickly adding, "some I would like to touch more than others.")
We think it is a cool, relevant technology that will become more and more pervasive in large businesses to cut back on travel and soon to "kiosk" type applications where you can use a TelePresence suite by the hour. It is a large part of our green effort within Cisco and we believe that it can initially cut back on 10% of our travel...which is huge in savings for our shareholders and huge in saving in carbon emissions for the environment.
See CBS Evening News' John Blackstone report on Cisco TelePresence.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 09:49 AM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
May 24, 2007
Video: Cisco CEO at Interop
The beauty of blogs and the web overall is that crosslinking and sharing of information is just so darn easy. We get the information that we want PUSHED to us, rather than having to scan actual, physical, ink-stained papers. We don't get ink on our hands, therefore we don't need to wash our hands as much. We waste less water, we put less soap into the environment. RSS and feeders, therefore save the environment!!! Productivity, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ensues. Everyone wins.
With that in mind, I would like to draw your attention to some videos posted by ZDNet's Between the Lines blog from Interop. This is Dan Farber's and Larry Dignan's blog (also featuring David Berlind) and is a must read for those of us in the technology space.
Video: The Gospel According To John Chambers
By: Dan Farber
"At the Interop conference in Las Vegas, Cisco CEO John Chambers talks about the need for businesses to increase productivity by implementing Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, mashups, and virtual conferencing. He also explains how Cisco used Web 2.0 principles in its $7 billion acquisition of Scientific Atlanta."
Also: Cisco mixes it up with Interop mashup
Video "Cisco CEO Demos New TelePresence App"
"At the Interop conference in Las Vegas, Cisco CEO John Chambers demos the company's new Unified Communications platform. Combining telepresence and mapping technologies, the mashup allows users to identify and then locate an individual over a network."
Posted by John Earnhardt at 01:52 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 22, 2007
Unified Communications: Open and Interoperable to Increase Customer Benefits
At Network + Interop this week, we are showing our full portfolio of open, network-based unified communications solutions and highlighting interoperability with a number of industry vendors, including Microsoft.
Cisco believes that most customers will want a heterogeneous and unified workspace environment – one that includes Macintosh, Linux and PC users, IBM Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook users, wired and wireless users – and even users without desktop or mobile devices at all. Cisco also believes that customers will want to unify a range of enterprise environments such as Oracle, SAP, IBM and Salesforce.com, and Microsoft ERP/CRM applications.
Cisco and Microsoft have a nine-year strategic alliance and have collaborated across a number of technologies, the most recent being unified communications. While Cisco and Microsoft have different visions for unified communications, there is a common theme that ties our visions together – the customer. In the spirit of that commitment to customers, we’ve identified with Microsoft a number of integration areas between our products, such as interoperability with Microsoft Office Communications Server and Cisco Unified Communications.
This week we announced support for Microsoft’s new Office Communications Server interoperability specification with Cisco Unified Communications Manager. This interoperability will allow customers to more tightly integrate Microsoft Office Communicator with Cisco Unified Communications devices, such as Cisco Unified IP Phones, and simultaneously ring them for increased efficiencies in “finding the right person, the right time – faster.”
To deliver on the “Unified” in unified communications for customers, Cisco will continue to strengthen alliances, strike new partnerships and drive industry standards. By leveraging the network as the platform for communications, Cisco customers will benefit from new levels of productivity, competitiveness and profitability over the coming years.
Communications is the ultimate networked application. Cisco believes the network is the platform for unified communications and that customers will benefit from an open, unified solution that offers communication and collaboration applications as network services. Our strategy for unified communications is to open up the workspace for customers, as this approach offers customers a wider choice of communications product and technology options, rather than a single operating system, device or media -dependent technology.
Posted by Barry O'Sullivan, VP/GM, IP Communications, Cisco at 09:00 AM Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
May 21, 2007
The Internet is not a medium, it is a language
Yesterday was a busy day for us in Cannes. First we held the Cisco panel in the American Pavilion (more below), then we watched the red carpet procession from an overlooking apartment (video below), and finished off the day with a screening of the new U2 3D movie.
If you have bad memories of “3D” movies with red and green glasses, U2 3D will convince you 3D is the only way to see movies within the first two minutes. Even if you’re not a U2 fan, I recommend seeing this for it’s innovative technology.
Now, to the panel…
Our panel “The Internet: New Platform for Storytelling, or Just Distribution?” focused on how technology is changing every aspect of the entertainment industry including production, distribution and the business deals that are struck.
I managed to capture a few video highlights before dumping the memory on my camcorder somehow. From left to right on the attached video, the panelists included:
Tony Perkins, AlwaysOn (moderator)
Dan Scheinman, SVP and GM, Cisco Media Solutions Group
Catherine Owens, director of U2 3D
Michael V. Lewis, CEO of Real D (maker of 3D technologies)
Bobby Bedi, director of Bandit Queen
Bobby Bedi set the tone for the conversation in his introduction by saying “I thought I was a filmmaker, but I really am a content-maker. The business of filmmaking is not necessarily that of being a content producer.” That is because, “the Internet is not a new medium, it is a new language” and a new form of communication.
Catherine Owens noted that in the past there has been little connection between technicians and artists, resulting in content developed by technologists familiar with the technology. She sees it as important for artists like herself to “bring a sense of emotion” to content through these new technologies.
Michael Lewis picked up a similar theme when he talked about evolving the cinema experience to give viewers something unique. People are willing to pay for that premium, 3D experience in the theater because it is an immersive experience you can’t achieve on an iPod, or home TV.
Catherine also touched on the side benefit of mobility that digital technology gives her on the production side. The fact that she could “be a my mum’s house” in Ireland tagging a rough cut of the film on her laptop before sending it off to the production team in the US was invaluable.
Bobby Bedi also provided an eloquent close to the session by saying, “Will the industry resist [digital technology and the changes it brings]? Yes, that is part of the normal process. It is human behavior to at first resist, then join change.”
Posted by Scott Brown at 02:29 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 20, 2007
Balance of Trade
The French have given us so much culturally: Brigitte Bardot, Roquefort cheese, Chanel, the bikini...
In exchange, we’ve given them The Simpsons Movie. Some would argue that we’re even. (Picture from outside the Carlton Hotel on Blvd de la Croissette, Cannes, fr.)
Later today Cisco will be hosting a panel at the American Pavilion on how technology is changing the art and business of entertainment. More updates from that later today.
Posted by Scott Brown at 12:56 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 18, 2007
60 Years of Festivals Meets 60 Years of Independence
The Cannes Film Festival is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Halfway around the world, India is celebrating 60 years of independence. Put the two anniversaries together, and you have the reason behind India’s selection as the country of focus for the opening weekend of the film festival.
Over the course of the next three days there will be special screenings of Indian produced films, as well as a various celebrations and panel discussions at the Indian Pavilion. Cisco was a proud sponsor of the India: From A to Z celebration last night on the Majestic Hotel beach.
Posted by Scott Brown at 05:49 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 17, 2007
Intersection of Art and Science: the Future of Entertainment
I have to admit, it’s the trip of a lifetime: for the next week I’ll be with the Cisco team at the Cannes Film Festival.
In its 60th year, the Cannes Film Festival has a long history of looking at the future of film and how the industry is evolving. And that brings me to why Cisco is at Cannes (only the second most frequently asked question behind “can I come with you?”).
The entertainment industry is in the midst of a massive evolution driven primarily by the digitization of content, and the increasing ease of distribution via broadband. Cisco has been a sponsor of film festivals for the last several years to not only remind people about the role of the network in this evolution (you know, that thing that makes all of this stuff “go”), but also to engage the entertainment industry in a conversation about what is coming next, and how Cisco can partner with them along the way.
On Sunday, May 20th, Cisco is sponsoring a panel at the American Pavilion titled: “The Internet: A New Platform for Storytelling, or Just Distribution?” Dan Scheinman, GM of the Cisco Media Solutions Group, will be joined by Tony Perkins from AlwaysOn, and a panel of industry insiders ranging from filmmakers to marketers. We hope to have a lively conversation on how the digital revolution is changing all aspects of the business – from production and post-production, to financing and marketing.
More soon. Cheers.
Posted by Scott Brown at 12:22 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 14, 2007
“The Envelope, Please?” Cisco and mtvU Announce Digital Incubator Grants
Question: If you are a big networking company in Silicon Valley and your focus is more on VoIP, collaborative tools and security, etc. how do you create new media mash-ups, combining elements of social networking, mobile or “big” games, online interactivity, affinity-based websites and short-form broadband programming?
Answer: You partner with mtvU and give grants to college students to tap into their creativity and brilliance. Together, you create the Digital Incubator program.
The Digital Incubator program, now in its second year, was developed jointly by mtvU and Cisco to discover talented college students to create new media and entertainment concepts. Together, we provide the monetary, creative and technical resources for students to bring their digital media ideas into reality…as well as a national platform for the finished products to be showcased. We want to encourage the next generation of talent to experiment with new forms of story telling made possible because of video and broadband coming together and mtvU reaches a college audience that is consuming media in new and exciting ways. mtvU and Cisco are happy to announce our 2007 grant awards.
These five student groups will be funded with up to $30,000 in grant money each and offered a national platform to pioneer the next generation of digital applications and content. In an added twist, this year’s grant recipients will have the opportunity to submit a detailed business plan and pitch MTV and Cisco executives for a supplemental grant of up to $100,000.
May I have the envelope, please? Click to watch a video of the student teams being awarded the grants.
This year’s grant recipients are:
Casablanca - New York University: A hybrid social networking and mobile/alternative reality game that pits players against each other as members of one of two teams. The game plays out online and via text messages; is one part espionage, one part team-builder; and rewards players for building or infiltrating real-world and virtual communities.
Selectricity – M.I.T.: An online ranking technology that focuses on preferential decision-making – shifting away from a winner-take-all paradigm to a more democratic standard. Using a drag-and-drop mechanism, voters rank “candidates” in order of preference and the Selectricity application generates a winner that is most acceptable to the group as a whole.
RapHappy - New York University: An online hip hop destination where users can record, collaborate on, search and listen to freestyle or written raps. The site will encourage user interaction and collaboration, enabling users to form groups, start battles or rate/comment on the sites’ submissions.
How Do I Say This? – UCLA: One of the greenlighted Digital Incubator programs from last year and a 2007 SXSW Web Award-winner will return bigger than ever in its second season. “How Do I Say This?” is an interactive, web-based advice Wiki, where users help script and create video messages for people with problems that have left them at a loss for words.
Osiris – Brown University: A first-of-its-kind MP3 visualizer that uses song lyrics to automatically generate music videos using images pulled from Flickr and pictures on the user's hard drive.
Congratulations to these talented teams and thanks to all the groups who submitted entries. We look forward to watching these concepts develop and we are proud to support the teams with Cisco technical and business resources.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 11:00 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 11, 2007
Plato: "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"
This Sunday is Mother's Day. It is the busiest day of the year for making phone calls and many callers will likely get an "all circuits are busy" message. At this late date, if you haven't sent your mom a card or gift or arranged for a special "THANK YOU, MOM" skywriter to appear in the airspace above your mom's house, you might want to start thinking about some alternative methods for saying Happy Mother's Day.
And, speaking from recent, personal experience, you NEED to say Happy Mother's Day, because every other day of the year is Childrens' day...with my three-months of experience this is true, but I'm sure it will get easier as he reaches toddlerhood and then his teenage years. Right?
What are some other ways to reach your mom with a special note or gift?
You haven't sent a card, the phone lines (PBX) are going to be busy, so alternative ways to reach your mom have to be considered. How about an e-mail or text? Perhaps too impersonal. How about a blog entry? Getting better, but still, you can do better. How about a shout-out on your myspace page? Do you want your mom reading your myspace page? Film a short video and put it on YouTube. Will she be able to access it? And, it is too late now, but you can always use snail mail and blame the late arrival on Newman.
So, for the benefit of those of you (or us) who may be a bit tardy is arranging for a special mother's day message or gift for your mom or your wife, please (for the benefit of those who have not planned ahead) respond to this message with some good mother's day ideas...need some inventive, creative ideas.
And, as this is our 100th post on this blog...thanks for reading...or at least pretending to read...
Posted by John Earnhardt at 01:38 PM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
May 10, 2007
Cisco Field Update: One Step Closer to "Play Ball!!"
Last year, we announced that one of the newest Major League Baseball stadiums would be named "Cisco Field" and it would be the home to the Athletics, currently of Oakland. The new stadium will be in Fremont, CA...just down the road from Oakland and closer to the heart of Silicon Valley. Today, the A's announced that we are all one step closer to the reality of Cisco Field.
The press release issued today, states, "Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff, Cisco and ProLogis announced today that they have signed land agreements enabling the Cisco Field ballpark process to move forward. The A’s now have completed the land transaction and control 226-acres of land in the City of Fremont where the new Cisco Field ballpark and the urban village will be built. In addition, the A’s will continue to work with the City staff on the steps necessary to commence the public application process."
Money quotes from the press release:
A's owner Lew Wolff: "Our agreements with Cisco and ProLogis are a critical milestone in giving us the opportunity to create Major League Baseball’s most exciting and intimate fan friendly venue."
Cisco CEO John Chambers: " We believe Cisco Field will provide the Bay Area community and major league baseball fans alike with an experience that is unparalleled in sports today. By teaming with the A’s, Cisco will be able to use technology to help create a ballpark of the future—and connect communities."
I, for one, am excited about Cisco Field and seeing what cool, innovative technologies we come up with to enhance the baseball fan experience. We certainly don't want to take away from the crack of the bat, the smell of the grass or the coldness of the beer, but if we can utilize technology to make the experience more interactive and informative (if a fan so chooses to access these options), then I think we're all doing a good thing.
I am proud to sit on my couch, watch sports and surf the web for all the background and stats on a player when he's at the freethrow line, in the batter's box, on the tee box, or breaking a tackle...and, for those fans who want information at their fingertips at all times (irregardless if they are sitting on the couch or in the stadium) I think that we can be of assistance.
And, of course, GO A's!!!!
Posted by John Earnhardt at 02:32 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Earnhardt to Leave Company His Father Founded
I grew up in North Carolina and with my last name the questions about "relation" came fast and furious. Any time I wrote a check or used a credit card the question would come, "any relation to Dale?"
On February 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt died in a crash at the Daytona 500 (by coincidence my dad's birthday is February 18). Although we were only distantly related, it felt like a loss of a family member. After all, I had grown up with him in many ways...especially the questions. He became to be known in our family as "cousin Dale" because it was the answer that questioners wanted to hear.
Today, we learn that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is leaving the racing team and company that his father started. It is too bad that the the two sides couldn't work things out, but business is business I s'pose.
Which leads me to the point of this blog: Cisco and Microsoft.
Peter Burrows and Jay Greene of BusinessWeek report on Cisco and Microsoft's relationship. We have long been a friend and partner to Microsoft and other companies following the keiretsu model...after all, generally a rising tide lifts all boats, right?
(My son, Jack, in his "Not Dale" t-shirt custom made for him by a friend.)
In the BusinessWeek article, our Chief Development Officer, Charlie Giancarlo, sums up the MSFT/CSCO relationship thusly, ""Ninety percent of our businesses are very synergistic. We've been very clear with them [about areas where they'll compete], and they've been very clear with us."
As long as our step-mothers aren't involved (see, Earnhardt, Dale, Jr.), we should be just fine.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 09:19 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 09, 2007
Artichokes: 3 for 99c
I don't like artichokes. I don't know how much they cost, nor how much they should cost. I was at the Stanford Mall last night getting some corn at the veggie and fruit market next to Schaub's (home of the famous Fred's steak - get it for your first cook-out of the season if you've never tried it!!) and a woman with her beautiful golden retriever was looking at the artichokes that were 3 for 99c. I thought that a good price even with my aforementioned lack of knowledge of artichoke pricing. The woman, however, had different expectations. "These are the LARGE artichokes?" she asked the stock man. "Yes," he said, "they are the big ones." "The bigs ones must have already been picked through because these (holding one up) are definitely not that big...or heavy enough," she said. "Do I have to buy three?"
Our expectations of artichokes were quite different. Which brings me to our earnings report yesterday.
I'm not that active in the stock market, but I definitely have some Cisco stock (and I'm an employee), so I am, of course, interested in our earnings. I read the coverage (Thirty-four percent gain in earnings, 17% higher sales, etc.) as it came out on the wire when we reported after market close and I thought, "wow, great quarter." And, it was. However, others wanted a superfragilisticexpealidotioius quarter and we were down in afterhours trading and are down this morning. So, it is all about expectations and knowledge of the market.
My expectations for artichokes is that 3 for 99c is a good price. Others, who know the artichoke market better than I think that 3 for 99c isn't a bad price, but that the artichokes should be bigger or heavier...or that the good ones have already been picked and what is left are the dreg artichokes.
Cisco is a great company and I'm proud to work here. Our friends in the market like us and know that we had a very good quarter, but very good isn't, it seems, always good enough. My favorite quote from an analyst, which put things in perspective for me was from John Slack from Morningstar, as quoted by Jordan Robertson of the AP. Slack said the stock fell victim Tuesday to overeager investors who have run up the stock price and expected higher guidance. "These guys continue to execute, execute, execute," Slack said. "But this is a case where Wall Street's expectations had been running up in the past few weeks. It's a typical sell on the news thing. I don't expect much downside from here."
I'm not a Wall Street analyst and I won't pretend to understand the machinactions of stock price or the market, but what I do know is that the corn on the cob that I got last night was tasty...and that's good news to me.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 09:08 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
May 03, 2007
How are all your cats doing?
I'm in the elevator this morning and I overhear this conversation.
Elevatormate #1: How are things?
Elevatormate #2: Good. You?
Elevatormate #1: Good. How are all your cats doing?
Elevatormate #2: They're all good now. Thanks for asking.
Sure, the image of the stereotypical cat lady popped into my head and I immediately wondered, "how many cats?" However, what struck me is that is was a genuine caring question and a genuine thankful response about the well-being of loved ones. This person's cats mean a lot to her and it sounded like there may have been some kitty health issues in the past, so she was thankful to be able to report that they are all good now. And (this is how my mind works) it made me think of the op-ed on evidence-based healthcare that our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jeff Rideout, published in this past Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle.
Healthcare has been a huge issue for years in the U.S. (and worldwide) and Dr. Rideout points out that technology can help (potentially even in the veterinary field I would assume).
In his San Francisco Chronicle article, he states, in part, "For as long as modern medicine has existed, treatment has been based on a doctor's learned and professional opinion. Historically, that opinion was only as good as the information available to the doctor, used in conjunction with the physician's personal expertise and experience....Advances in scientific knowledge and information technology are rapidly expanding the pool of information a doctor can and should use. The digitization of health information creates an enormous pool of knowledge, and the ability to quickly and accurately access that information will enable a doctor to more rapidly shift from learned opinion to evidence-based care." Read the whole piece here.
So, I hope all your cats are doing well...and your friends and family as well.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 12:17 PM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
May 02, 2007
Star Trek Technology is Here
Have you ever seen a TV show and said, "wow, that's really cool technology they're showing, but it will never be reality?" I'll be honest. I was never a huge fan of Star Trek, but what I did enjoy, other than Shatner's fine acting, was the technology. Sure, I watched it from time to time and I enjoyed the movies...especially with Ricardo Montalban as Khan (I kept waiting for him to say, "Welcome to Fantasy Island" or "fine Corinthian leather")...but I never attended a Star Trek convention or bought vulcan ears or anything like that.
The technology, however, was supercool. How cool was it to get beamed up? Or talk on your wrist watch? Or go to warp speed? Or talk to a full life size person on a video screen...even if they were Klingon? Well, we can basically talk on a wrist watch now...and the full size person on the video screen is now with us with Cisco's TelePresence.
"24" is another television series that many people watch and absolutely love. I've actually seen Jack Bauer for President bumper stickers. I must admit I've never seen the show...I'm more of a Sopranos and Entourage guy...as well as, of course, The Family Guy. What I do know is that "24" used Cisco's TelePresence on it this week and I'm sure kids were saying, "wow, that's really cool, but it will never be reality." In fact, that technology is reality today. That's pretty cool.
Next from Cisco...teleportation...or, at minimum, now that part of the 580 has collapsed...telecommuting... : )
Posted by John Earnhardt at 09:56 AM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
