I participated in a Live Blogging session today here in Sydney Australia on climate change and how Australia should tackle climate change and if we had an Emission Trading System what that should look like followwing the release of an important report into climate change by Australian economist Ross Garnaut. 

This really was web 2.0 in action.  Very interactive with live polls etc.  You can view the reply here.

I had a short break over the weekend just and read this article in the Sydney Morning Heald and it made me sit up and think.  I had just driven about 200KM to an lovely beach side town north of Sydney called Shoal Bay at Port Stephens.  Just think if I had used ethanol in the car it would have taken 240 kilograms of corn to produce 100 liters of ethanol, enough for my weekend or away, or that 240 kiolgrams of corn could have feed a person for a year.   Interesting choice.   Fuel for the car or food in someone's mouth.

Shoal Bay about 200KM north of Sydney.  If I had used ethanol to travel here from Sydney and return the amout of crops needed to produce 100 L of ethanol could have feed someone for a year.

As we see the shift in the grain harvest, especially in North America into ethanol the line "we drive, they starve" is very scarey as is the title of this article "we fill our tanks while they carn't fill their stomachs."

I think the question needs to be asked.  Is biofuels the answer?  I think not.   Converting food crops to make fuel is a short term solution to a long term problem with massive global consquences especially for developing countries.  I think the solution has to be hybrid cars and electric cars.

Is biofuels the answer? 

People that blog for a living are in a race against time to be the first with a post in order to drive interest in their blog and hence visits which can then lead to more revenue from advertising, but is it worth it.  

There have been a number of recent reports of bloggers suffering fatal heart attacks and the pressure of producing news and information for the always-on internet must affect peoples health and family life.  Yes some bloggers are very successful and make a lot of money from blogging, but you would have to ask at what cost.  

I was on a train in Sydney earlier today Monday travelling to the city from the Sun Gordon office to a meeting in the city and I was reading the New York Times on my cell phone though avantgo when this article really struck me and made me sit up and think.  Firstly here I was sitting on a train reading the NYT on my cell phone and yet there are three billion people in the world who don't even own a cell phone.  Just think how previlaged we are in the develpoed world to have access to such modern technology. We just seem to take things like the use of a cell phone for grated.

This is a a fascinating article.  The key theme is that through access to telecommunciations you have access to a maket and if you have access to a market you on the hard road out of poverty.    I like the idea of even access to a phone in a village can create a market and once you have a market you are generating economic acticvity and with economic acticity comes income and wealth.   The numbers are complelling.   A London Business School study concluded that for every additional 10 mobile phones per 100 people, a country's GDP rises by 0.5%.

What is encouraging is that we are seeing rapid growth in access to mobile phone networks in developing countries.   By the end of 2006, 68% of the worlds mobile subscriptions were in developing countries.   The beauty of cell phones is that they by pass government regulated networks and allows much cheaper access and effective communciation by for example using SMS.

SELLING TO THE OTHER THREE BILLION A cellphone shop in Accra, Ghana, which carries and repairs a variety of handsets.

You can help by recycling your old  handset.   Many countries have handset recycling programs.  Here a link to handset recycling program in Australia.  Mobile-Muster

I think that "Micro-Blogging" is set to the be the next big thing. As people are increasingly prepared to share their lives with the rest of the world and the ease as which people can access the internet through mobile devices increases so does the scope for "Micro-Blogging." 

Micro-Blogging is where people fire off terse missives about what they are doing at any given moment.   I have read some micro-blogs and they appear to be rather random and more an up-to-date on-line diary together with random thoughts.

In Australia through the Telstra 3G phone network you can update your blog over the handset.    

More on micro-blogging here.
 

An example of a Micro-Blog  

I know you don't celebrate Boxing Day in the US and is very much a Commonwealth country celebration and there is always confusion as to what Boxing Day actually means.   This is a good definition "Boxing Day is a traditional celebration dating back to the Middle Ages,
of which the primary practice is the giving of gifts to employees, the
poor, or to people in a lower social classes." 

More on Boxing Day here. 

In Australia it is a day to recover from Christmas Day and to watch the Boxing Day Test Match cricket from Melbourne and the start of the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race.

It is one of great blue water classics in the world, the Sydney-to-Hobart with its spectacular start on Sydney harbour which always starts on Boxing Day.   The start this year was a classic, blue sky and sunshine with a light breeze with thousands of spectators on the headlands around the habrour and in spectator boats on the water.

The Sydney-to-Hobart is known as one of the toughest ocean races in the world due to the crossing of Bass Strait which is know for bad weather and rough seas.  My Grandfather completed in one of the early Sydney-to-Hobart races more than 50 years ago. 

Hard on the breeze … Wild Oats XI is the first to round the
marker outside Sydney Heads.

The thousands of spectators on the headlands and on the water.

You can follow the race here.  

The Sun Blackbox is here in Sydney!!  Sun's Project Blackbox is a data center inside a water-proof shipping container.     Project Blackbox is on show here in Sydney and in Canberra this week.    Project Blackbox has generated a great deal of interest with more than 900 customers attending events this week. 

The Blackbox can be configured to hold up to 250 Sun Fire servers or up to 3PB worth of storage.  Its uses are endless from servicing a mobile bank brach to capturing data deep down a mine shaft.  

Some local media on the Blackbox in Sydney here.  

Sun's Project Blackbox 

The world's first data centre in a box is coming to Sydney.  Project Blackox is a prototype of the world's first virtualised data cente.    Project Blackbox delivers several unique advantages: 

• Rapid, Easy Deployment: "Build once, deploy anywhere"
• Very High-density Computing: Capacity for over 700 CPUs, 2000 cores, or 8000 compute threads!
• Versatility and Flexibility: "What you want, where you want it, when you want it".
• Breakthrough Economics and Eco Responsibility: scalability, use of standard components, cooling innovation, low cost to build, efficiency, and Sun's recycling initiatives.

There are a number of events happening in Sydney and Canberra including tours.   For your chance to walk through the world's first data centre in a box the dates are:

 
Sydney - December 17-18

Canberra - December 19-20
 

Click here for more information.

There seems to be an accessory for the iPod for just about anything and everything.   However I think that "iPond" has taken things a little too far. 

The iPond is a tiny fish tank that doubles as a music speaker and is 15 times smaller than the recommended tank size for the fish that it contains, a Siamese fighting fish.   Not only is the tank way too small for the fish but it must feel noise, heat and vibration from the speaker.

I agree with RSPCA that the iPond should be banned.

The iPond

A leading US dictionary, Merriam-Webster has annouced "w00t" as the word of the year for 2007.   So what is "w00t?"   To be honest I have never heard of it.   It is an expression of joy coined by online gamers.  I note the influence of SMS in the spelling. 

According to this article "w00t belongs to gamers the world over.  It seems to have been derived from the obsolete "whoot" which is essentially is another way to say "hoot."

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2007

1. w00t

2. facebook

3. conundrum

4. quixotic

5. blamestorm

6. sardoodledom

7. apathetic

8. Pecksniffian

9. hypocrite

10. charlatan

Number 2 "word-of-the-year" for 2007 

You know you are getting close to the end of the year when you start to see articles with predictions for the year ahead.

This article from smh.com.au has a bit of an Australian slant, however throws up some interesting ideas as what to expect in 2008 in the world of IT.  

I agree with the comments on the growth of Facebook and 2008 will an interesting year in Australia, with a new Government which is commited to buiding an world class broadband infrastructure for Australia.  

I think you will see an increaed focus on eco computing and this will be driven by the consumer, who will demand from companies an effort to reduce their carbon foot print and their emissions.   There is no better way for a company to prove its green credentials than to start in its datacentre and with its computer infrastructure. 

Great success story from Australia of Macquarie Telecom switching from HP to Sun severs.  One of key reasons for Macquarie Telecom to swith to Sun is the ability to reduce its carbon footprint by slashing its carbon dioxide emissions by 600 tonnes per year by switching to Sun's eco friendly servers. 

What I think is key in this storey is that the response of Macquarie Telecom was consumer driven.  The consumer was looking to Macquarie Telecome to reduce its carbon emissions and the company wanted to show to its consumers that it was serious about reducing its carbon emissions and adressing it IT model was a quick win to reduce its carbon footprint and Sun provided the solution.  The company now has a good storey to sell to its consumers and it looks serious about climate change.

This is compelling and a key competitive advanatage for Sun.    Sun is well positioned to not only offer a solution to a company to reduce its own costs by using eco friendly servers, but to meet customer expectations that a company is reducing its carbon emissions.

 
I blogged about the Asus Ess PC that is selling in Australia for $500.   It is reported that the PC is virtually sold out in Australia.   This just shows that there is demand for this type of macine.   In the US 10,000 units were sold within two weeks and Asus plans to sell 350,000 by the end of the year. 
 

What is interesting is that customers are buying two and three units for the family as back-up machines and for the kids.   It also interesting that sales appear to be new PC buyers and not impacting on other PC sales from Dell, HP, Apple etc.  This just shows that there is a market for a simple cheep laptop and that once you take Microsoft out of the loop, you take cost out of the equation.

 
More here.

Asus Ess PC..  less than 1KG 

Australia has recently had a change of government and one of the key platforms in the election from the now Labor Government was an education revolution with a promise of a "computer for every high school student from year nine up."   This is such an opportunity for Sun.   The new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced in his first week in the job that this is his top priority.

There have already been questioned asked as to how can the Government provide a "computer for every school student" and importantly maintan and support such as massive network.  The network administration costs alone would be massive let alone managing upgrades, issues with security etc.

I think Sun has a goldern opportunuity here through SunRAY clients.   Just look at advantages of SunRAYs in this type of envionment.

• Manange thousands of desktops with just a few administrators.
• Virtually eliminate the cost of client virus attacks.
• Centralise data and applications for greater security.
• Cut application upgrade time from weeks to hours.
• Hot desk between between machines.
  
• Massive savings in power
  

I see such a great opportunity for Sun.   I can see a SunRAY client sitting on school desks with each student with a SunRAY card.    If I was the Maketing Manager at Sun in Australia I would be knocking on the door of the new Education Minister Julia Gillard.

More on SunRAY clients here.

More on the Governement's Education Revolution and some of the issues with providing computers for every student here.

I blogged in my recent entry about the new $A 500 Asus Ess PC.    How can a PC cost less than $A 500?  Easy, IT DOES NOT RUN WINDOWS and instead runs on Linux.   Why is Bill Gates the richest man in the World? It is simple really, every Windows machine that is sold you pay for the OS to Microsoft.   What this Asus Ess PC does is that it takes Microsoft out of the loop.  

This is something Sun could so eaily do.   I think Sun should manufacture a laptop running Solaris 10 and bundle it with StarOffice.    I also like the idea of using a flash drive to reduce weight and cost at the entry level or for an ultra-light laptop.   Sun could also manufacture high-end machines with all the bells and whistles and easily beat the price of the Window machines.  Once you take Micosoft out of the equation the cost comes down.

The Asus Ess PC..  ultra-light and ultra-portable that costs less than $A500 and DOES NOT RUN WINDOWS.  

The Asus Eee PC breaks through the $A 500 price barrier to retail for $A 499 in Sydney shops this week.   So what do you get for $A 500?   Based on this review  I would say a lot.  Sure the screen maybe 18CM across but it gives you everything you need a neat light package.  

What is really interesting is that it DOES NOT RUN WINDOWS.   Now you know why you pay $1,500 + for a laptop, because you have to pay a Microsoft for the operating system.   This little beauty runs Linux which keeps the cost down and takes less hardware to run.  The machine comes installed wth a whole bunch of software inclusing Open Office 2.0.  

What is also really interesting is that the Eee PC does not have a hard drive which is replaced with a 4GB solid state drive and you can beef up the storage with a USB flash drive card.  

As the verdict in this review says. "Less truly is more, at least when it comes to the Eee PC. While Asus considers this mainly as a robust little laptop for kids, it's ideal as a second computer that can be shared among the family or taken on holidays."

Lilliputian laptop .... Asus Eee PC

Google has joined the Green bandwagon with an annoucement it will pour hundreds of millions of dollars into a quest to lower the cost of producing electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and the Sun.  

Google must spend a fortune on power to drive its massive data centres so this move is not suprising.

However lets not forget who is the leader in Green computing and the first with a goal to reduce power consumption from computers - Sun Microsystems.

 
More on this story here. 

David Beckham and the LA Galaxy played an exhibition game here in Sydney last night against Sydney FC in front of 82,000 fans.  It was a great game with Sydney FC winning 5-3.  It was great to see such a high scoring game.  The highlight was a trademark goal from Beckham from 25 metres out. 

Sydney FC goalkeeper Clint Bolton can
only flap as a trademark David Beckham free-kick dips and curls
over the wall and into the net last night.

Australia has a new Government and a new Prime Minister with Kevin Rudd from the Australian Labor Party elected in the Federal election on November 24 2007.    

We in Australia are fortunate that we live in a great democracy, where there can be such a smooth change in Government.

This change in Government sees the end of 11 years of Liberal government under Prime Minister John Howard.   John Howard leaves a strong legacy.  Australia is a stronger and prouder country.  Key successes include strength of the Australian economy and increased prosperity.  Australia has also become a true global player on the world stage over the recent decade. 

It is raining in Sydney today and there has been some heavy rain over the past week.   The forecast is OK with the weather to clear on Friday for the start of the 100KM Oxfam Trailwalker.   As per previous entries the Oxfam Trailwalk is a 100KM treck around Sydney through bushland with the goal to complete the trek within 48 hours.   I am in the "Sun Rise" team of four from Sun Microsystems.

If it is wet, that in my opinion just makes it more of a challenge. 

More information on the Trailwalker here. 

Vist our teamspace here.

To make a donation to our team you can vist here.

A key goal of the Oxfam Trailwalker is rasie money for Oxfam Australia and to support the great work Oxfam does developing countries. 

We are looking for sponsors and you can sponsor our Sun Traiwalker Team.   

Here is the link to sponsor me in the Oxfam Trailwalker.   

Here is some more information on the work Oxfam does and where the donations go.  

As I have been communciating through my blog, I am competing in the Oxfam trailwalker with a team from the Sun Microsystems Sydney office representring Sun.   The Oxfam Trailwalker is a 100KM treck around Sydney and has been described as one of the toughest team challenge events in the world.   Teams of four walk 100KM to raise money for Oxfam Australia.  This is also a tremendous team building event as part of the challenge is the four members of the team need to work together and go through each of the check points together. 

We are ready, the training is done and our logistics are in place.   Now just looking forward to starting on Friday.

Here is the link to learn more about the Oxfam Trailwalker.  

As per my recent blog entry,  I am competing in the Syndey Oxfam Trailwalker, a 100KM Trek on  24-26 August 2007 that is a major fundraiser for Oxfarm Australia.

Sun Microsystems has three teams competing in this years Trailwalker from the Gordon and North Sydney officers.  The team I am in is called "SunRise" and is been lead by David Hall from the Global Invoice to Collect Organisation.  Other team members are Kazu Hosoi also from the Global Invoice to Collect Organisation, Kazu actually works for me in the APAC Cash Applications team and Mario Benedict from the Sun Centre here in Gordon.  We have been training regulary over recent months.  Our goal is to complete the 100KM in 36 hours and to raise some significant money for Okfam Australia.

We're doing all this as a personal challenge and more importantly to raise money for Oxfam Australia, who work to fight poverty and injustice in 26 countries around the world, including Indigenous Australia.

More information on the Oxfam Trailwalker here.

More details about our team and if you wish to donate to our team here.  

This is how I expect our feet to look at the end of the TrailWalker.

I am in a team of four from Sun Microsystems in Australia competing in the 100KM Oxfrm Trailwalker.   Sun has three teams competing in the Sydney Trailwalker.

Oxfam Trailwalker is the world's greatest team challenge. And it's also one of the toughest. The challenge is to get your team of four across 100km of Australian bush in less than 48 hours - and, collectively, to raise at least $1,000 to help to overcome poverty and suffering around the world.

Oxfam Trailwalker is all about teamwork - it is a great way for friends to bond or for work colleagues to develop team spirit. You need to start together, go through each checkpoint together, and finish together. You'll have to train and fundraise together beforehand.

This year sees the much anticipated unveiling of a new trail. The trail starts with stunning Sydney Harbour views from the recently restored environs of Chowder Bay in Mosman. It then meanders through the beaches and parks of the Balmoral area all the way to the Spit Bridge which crosses Middle Harbour. From here we connect to the official ‘Harbour to Hawkesbury Walking Track’. At Seaforth Oval the trail then begins its traverse of Garigal National Park all the way to St Ives, as it follows Middle Harbour Creek enjoying numerous stunning views, particularly near Frenchs Forest and Killarney Heights. Continuing northward through Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, the trail twists and turns its way along the rugged bush tracks of the Warrimoo, Sphinx and Gibberagong Trails, to the outskirts of northern Sydney. As the trail
ventures closer to its final destination, it exits the Bobbin Head precinct skirting alongside Cowan Creek via the Berowra and Mt Ku-ring-gai Tracks. Connecting with the ‘Great North Walk’ at Mt Ku-ring-gai, the trail then presents some final challenges, up and over rocky ridges offering many beautiful views of Berowra Creek and eventually the Hawkesbury River, before a triumphant finish at Brooklyn. Along the 100 kilometre journey between the Start and the
Finish there are 8 checkpoints (CP’s)

The trail for this year's Oxfarm Trailwalker

Watch my blog for regular updates as we prepare for the Traiwalker on August 24-26 2007 and for deatails as to how you can donate to support our team.

Sun's excellent Q4 financial results have been reported in the Australian media.  This is the headline in Australian IT.  "Cuts deliver Sun profit."  With the tag line "Sun Microsystems has swung to a quarterly profit from a year-earlier loss as it reduced costs, sending the shares up 10 per cent." 

Full article here
 

There is a lot of press around that raises doubts over the Alberto Contador, the winner of the 2007 Tour de France. 

Refer to this article from smh.com.au that quotes a German expert who is belived that Contador had used drugs.

I think that any rider that had an association with Dr Fuentes and whos name came up in the Operation Puerto inquiry would have to be supicious.

Just think that if Contador is rubbed out, Australian Cadel Evans becomes the winner of the 2007 Tour de France.

 Alberto Contador takes the plaudits in his home village of Pinto near Madrid, but a drug cloud hangs over his head

As per previous posts, Sun has had a fantastic Q4 with Sun posting its third quarter of profit in a row and beating analysts expectations.  Here are some links to what the news agencies and analysts are saying.

Reuters: Sun Micro posts 4th-qtr profit as costs drop

Information Week: Sun Microsystems Posts 4th Quarter Profit

The Street.com: Sun's Profit Sparkles

AP: Sun Posts 4Q Profit, Beats Expectations

Following the announcement of the fantastic Q4 financial results the Sun share price (SUNW) has surged ahead 46 cents or 9.41% to 5.35.

The market is rewarding the strong resuts and beating the analsysts expectations. 
 

"Sun's Profit Sparkles" that is the quote from the TheSteet.com.   I quote "Sun sailed past analysts' profit expectations on Monday, nothing its third consecuitive quarter in the black and sending its stock surging."  

Sun reported a profit of $329 million or 9 cents a share vs the average analysts' expectations of 5 cents a share.  We SMASHED the analysts expectations!!

This is a great result for the Sun, the staff, the customers and the investors and all those that stuck by the company.  The Sun is rising!