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 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 

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.  

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.

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

The USS Kitty Hawk left Sydney yesterday with its support ships and 7,000 sailors, after spending more than $M 10 over their time in Syndey.   I am sure all the sailors had a great time and especaially the Sons of the sailors that posted comments to my previous blog entry and please come again!!

A Manly ferry is dwarfed yesterday by the departing USS Kitty Hawk.   The 7,000 sailors of the aircraft carrier and its four support ships left a big impact on Sydney before heading to Brisbane, spending about $10 million during their five-day stay, or $280 per crew member a day.

According to reports on smh.com.au, Apple plans to launch a cheeper and smaller version of the iPhone based on the iPod Nano.

According to the reports the iPhone will be priced at $300 or lower with a circular touch pad control, similar to the Nano's scroll wheel.

My opinion is that this follows the Apple formula similar to the iPod where you initally go to the market with the top-end model and then bring out cheeper versions as the maket catches on.    I agree that Apple would have to convert the Nano into phone to stop cannibalizing the iPod Nano or why else would you buy a Nano if you get an iPod with an iPhone.    I also agree that Apple will need a cheeper version of the iPhone considering the high cost of the iPhone.   I can see Apple bringing out numerous versions of the iPhone over time, similar to what they done with the iPod.

Imagine the iPod Nano as an iPhone  

I actually learnt something today..  Do you know what the Sun NASDAQ stock symbol SUNW stands for?

   It stands for Sun Worldwide. 

TThe US Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk is visting Sydney this week with a spectacular arrival yesterday. 

The massive ship is over 300M long and 100M wide and took some time to berth at Garden Island right next to the Sydney CBD.

I am hoping to get in the city the weekend to have a look and take some photos.

The mighty USS Kitty Hawk arriving in Sydney
 

The Kitty Hawk steaming down Sydney Harbour yesterday.  

Google has brought GrandCental Communiations, an internet company that gives people telephone numbers that essentially follow them where ever they go.  

GrandCentral allows all your phones to be linked together to the one number which allows you to be reached with a single number.

More on the annoucement here.  

I think this is a smart move by Google and this acquisition would link in well with their strategy.