Each year as we flick our calendes to September 11, I am sure we all stop and think and reflect.  For me I was on a plane flying from Sydney to San Francisco for a Sun meeting.  I landed at SFO only a few hours after the events in New York that morning.  I now know why we were escourted into SFO by fighter jets. 

I can remember landing at SFO and the airport was been cleared by riot police and there were police everywhere.  I did not know what was going until I got on the then shuttle bus to  the Rental Car Center and people were talking on their cell phones.  I saw the first images when I got to the Avis counter.  I can remember driving down the 101 listening to the radio in shock.  I wanted to call my parents in Sydney, so I drove to my favorite cafe in Palo Alto, University Cafe on University Avenue.  I called my parents from the cafe, it was 2:00AM Sydney time.  I woke them up with the news.  To this day I am relieved that they were not aware what was going when I was in the air.

That week in Newark and Palo Alto was somber and I still have a little American Flag on my office wall that I picked up from a memorial service in Palo Alto later that week.    I can remember going to a collage football game at Stanford University the next weekend and standing for a minute silence and the national anthem. It was very moving.  I also remember American Flags everywhere, on cars, in shop fronts and even in the windows of the Sun Newark campus.

We all need to stop and remember today. 

University Cafe, Palo Alto 

The daily commute getting you down?   Have a long walk to or from a public transport node?   This could be the answer.  The Clip bike from Giant.  

The Clip bike is folding bike that can transform into a slick but compact bike in about 30 seconds and looks great.   It is light and has eight gears. I have seen folding bikes before in Amsterdam, but they look clunky and heavy.  This looks light and cool.  A neat way to whiz about the city between meetings or to and from the train station.     Here is a link for more details. 

Nokia is to enter the computer business with the announcement that Nokia is to start to make laptops entering the fiercely competitive but fast growing netbook market with the Booklet  3G netbook computer.    This sounds like Apple in reverse!  

 The netbook market is HOT right now and grew at more than 127% over 2008 according to IDC to over 26 million units.   Yes margins are very thin and the key to Nokia's success will be the ability to differentiate.   Nokia could be on a winner with "continuous connectivity" meaning that you can be on line all the time, similar to a smartphone, without the need for access to wi-fi in a neat affordable package.    You can also expect a neat design from Nokia.

The next thing will be the ability to make phone calls from your netbook and I don't mean via Skype.  I can see this not been too far away as netbooks get smaller and smaller..  but you would need to use a bluetooth headset as holding a netbook up to your ear would not be a good look!

Nokia's Booklet 3G netbook computer