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Today I stumbled across a group called The Yes Men who assume the identities of government and corporate officials to communicate specific political messages. This is an interesting phenomena because the general public, so as far as I can tell, will believe anything they read or see on television as the truth, no matter how far fetched. The Yes Men, along with every other media savvy entity in the world, are using this vulnerability to communicate their message.


The following is a video of The Yes Men impersonating a Dow Chemical executive who stated that the company was taking "full responsibility for the 1984 Bhopal disaster." Dow Chemical lost $2 billion in market capitalization in 23 minutes after this interview was broadcast by the BBC.





In their most recent prank, The Yes Men impersonated officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development in New Orleans and announced that HUD was reversing its policy of replacing low-income housing with mixed-income housing as part of the recovery effort. HUD termed this stunt "a cruel hoax."


While I find it difficult to condone this activity, I can't help but think we bring it upon ourselves by simply believing what we see. After all, people bought the February 5, 2003 weapons of mass destruction speech given by Colin Powell on behalf of the Bush Administration hook, line, and sinker. It was no less false in content than the stunts enumerated above. Watch for yourself:


Click the image to watch Powell's speech



A Powell aide later stated that his involvement in this event was the "lowest point of my life."


I guess we get what we deserve. Until people stop to think, to consider, to view critically what is presented to them in the media and make their own judgments, we'll continue to be vulnerable to all sorts of propaganda peddled by all sorts of people, for good reasons and bad. It's sad. Unfortunately, it's true. And, the "cruel hoaxes" are only going to become more intense and effective I think.


Technorati Tags: The Yes Men | Propaganda | Media

The largest TV on the planet in Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium



They do everything big in Texas. And here's proof:

• $8M to build and install
  
• ~685 square meters (134'x55')
  
• 40 units (5 tons each) air conditioners to cool it
  
• Electric bill? Let's hope those Texas boosters have deep pockets!
  
• Nickname: Godzillatron
  

One of my friends asked me the other day "why college football, why not basketball, or pro football?" I thought about it and gave this answer generally (though less articulately since I have a chance to review and edit what I'm writing.)

• 28,000 - that's the number of people who attended a practice; not a scrimmage, not a game, a practice for Ohio State last Monday.
  
• One and done - that's what it takes to disqualify you for playing in a meaningful post season game. One loss. Effectively, the entire season is a playoff. Win against good competition and everything takes care of itself (apologies to Auburn fans, your team shouldn't have scheduled Cupcake U in the non-conference games in 2004.)
  
• Millions - the only whiny millionaires you're likely to see are certain head coaches. The players play because they love the game. Antonio Smith, a walk-on at Ohio State majoring in mechanical engineering, won't go to the NFL. But he's out there practicing and helping the team every day. He was rewarded with a scholarship because of that in his senior year and might see the field during games.
  
• 105,000 - that's how many people jam into the Horseshoe for each Ohio State home game. Doesn't matter who they're playing, doesn't matter if the team is good or bad, doesn't matter if it's raining, snowing, or sleeting, people show up garbed in Scarlet and Gray.
  
• OSU/Michigan - rivalries and traditions. Script Ohio. Dotting the "i." Army/Navy. The Old Oaken bucket. Joe Pa. There's more to the game than the game. People can't wait for their team to take the field and there's always a tradition, rivalry, and/or side story to the action.
  

My daughter asked to see some horses today on my computer. Here's a small sampling of what we found. Hope you enjoy them as much as she did.


Age and experience over youth and beauty (30 seconds)

Seinfeld's horse story taken to the next level (30 seconds)

Patches the wonder horse (3 minutes - worth watching the whole thing)

Headbanging horse (1 minute)

Be careful where you put your head (17 seconds)

Technorati Tags: WebCams | Sensors | Horses

Recently a Beatles fan was watching a live web cam of an area in Liverpool associated with the Beatles, the Cavern Club. While checking the scene out, he noticed some people attempting to break-in to a sporting goods store. What did he do? He called the local constabulary in Merseyside who sent officers to Mathew Street where 3 people were arrested.


Sensor platforms like cameras combined with the power and volume of interest on the Internet really does extend our reach. Let's hope it's used for good more often than evil.


This entry originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


Technorati Tags: WebCams | Sensors | Crime

Image of Pluto and Charon



Well, it looks like the sensors we've aimed into space have finally provided astronomers with enough data to make the judgment: Pluto doesn't qualify as a planet.


Discovered in 1930, Pluto was thought to be about the size of the Earth (not true, it's about ~2300 kilometers in diameter) and was thus conferred planet status. As our ability to observe has increased in the 20th and 21st centuries, it's now apparent that Pluto is one of many such objects in the Kuiper belt at the edge of the solar system.


It's a good that we're able to reassess our hypothesises and judgments as new information becomes available. Meanwhile, the hot stock tip of the day: Buy science textbook publishers. (And never take stock advice from anyone, especially me.) What is Pluto now? It's either a "dwarf planet" or the prototype of a "plutonian object" according to the International Astronomical Union.


Farewell planet Pluto, we hardly knew ya.


This entry originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/


Technorati Tags: Science | Astronomy | Pluto

There was a great article in Business 2.0 today reviewing 20 ideas that specific VCs would invest in with dollar amounts. It may not reach the levels of "irrational exhuberance" seen in the late 1990's, but money is available for good ideas.


Here's a condensed list: (read the article for details.)

• Integrated computerized car - $5M
  
• Lightweight database - $3M
  
• Ultracapacitors/better batteries - $6M (two separate offers)
  
• Websheets (web spreadsheets) - $5M
  
• Mobile Patient Monitoring - $10M
  
• Repurposed Drugs - $10M
  
• Mobile Search - $2M
  
• Location based services - $8M (two separate offers)
  
• Product placement marketplace/vlogs - $8M (two separate offers)
  
• Social marketplace - $10M
  
• Mashup Matchmaker - $4M
  
• Green Luxury Homes (on a budget) - $5M
  
• Web Concierge - $5M
  
• Green Office Services - $1M
  
• Virus/bacteria detector/sensor - $10M
  
• Ad arbitrage for the little guy - $3M
  
• Massively entertaining idea - $5M
  

"Black box" or flight data recorder from the aviation industry



These systems for recording and preserving sensor data through air related events have been around since the 1950's and came into being as a result of mysterious incidents involving the de Havilland Comet jet airliner. The general idea being, it's good to know what was going on in the vehicle as the event occurred rather than guess or wait for an event to happen again. FDRs have been very successful in the last 50 years to help us understand what has happened in some sort of incident. FDRs come in various flavors some recording just a few sensor inputs like airspeed, altitude, etc. and now most are required to record 88 different sensor inputs. The instrument itself must also be "survivable" - that is specified as being able to withstand 3400 g's of force for 6.5 milliseconds; as well as fire, crush, penetration, and fluid immersion resistance. They're pretty durable pieces of equipment.


de Havilland Comet



Now the concept is being introduced to cars. Well, let's restate that, it's already in cars and has been there since the mating of the microchip and the motor car in the 1980's. It has progressed rather slowly from a technology standpoint to where we are today. Systems like OnStar work in concert with the onboard computer to notify a central monitoring center in the case of an event, say air bag deployment, then a human will attempt to communicate with the vehicle via a satillite phone link.


There is a furor over privacy now as a result of a mandate by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that automakers must inform consumers that a black box has been installed and is functional by September 1, 2010. That seems fair, but what about all the black boxes already installed and functional?


Privacy is an interesting thing, in today's world it's more of an illusion than a fact. If you're reading this, you've sacrificed some privacy - to gain access to bandwidth, through whatever proxies and filters you might be transiting, through the search or rss/atom feed you used to get here, and finally when accessing this content. If you talk on a wireless hand set or mobile phone, there goes more of your privacy. When is the last time you provided your credit card # or social security # over such a device? And of course, you do shred all your confidential information before disposing of it, right?


The point I'm making is that privacy is an illusion and unless you pay attention to preserving it constantly, you don't have it. There is potential for misuse of black box data, that is true of all data sources, but I think the benefit tends to outweigh the risk in this case. If there really is a security concern, provide a switch for a consumer to turn it off. It's that simple. Meanwhile, black boxes in cars is a step forward in my view. I kind of like the idea that someone would a) notice and b) take action to help if the situation merited it.


This entry originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


Technorati Tags: Black Box | Flight Data Recorder | Cars

This post is probably not what you'd expect from the title. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a blues triple-header at Villa Montalvo's Garden Theater. My spousal unit acquired the tickets for my birthday earlier this year for which I am very grateful. If you haven't been to a show at Villa Montalvo, you should make the effort. It's a beautiful spot. The Garden Theater seats around 1,000 people I'd estimate, not a bad seat in the house.


The afternoon started off with Leroy Bell and His Only Friends playing a tight set. Hadn't heard Leroy before and this was a nice introduction. He definitely has created a Windham Hill Jazz meets Dave Mathew's band sound with a little blues influence thrown in for flavor. Of his set, the songs that stuck with me were "Voodoo" and "20 years from now."


Leroy Bell and His Only Friends



The second act is someone I've wanted to see, but never had the chance. Charlie Musselwhite, the purported inspiration for Dan Ayckroyd's Elwood Blues character in the Blues Brothers. The highlight's of his set were "Church is Out" (in other words, let the party start) and a Brazilian Blues tune. Listening to Charlie conjures memories of Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. Loved his aluminum harp repository, which stayed on stool beside him the entire performance.


Charlie onstage (with harp case)



The first time I saw Etta James, she was at least 300lbs of blues power. That was in 1991 at the San Francisco Blues Festival at Fort Mason. I didn't know too much about the blues, and it was her performance that prompted me to take a closer look at the genre. 15 years and 2,000 blues tracks later, I caught up with Etta again yesterday. She was about 1/3 the size! Amazing.


Losing that weight had no impact on the power of her voice, she's still larger than life. She started off with "I just want to make love to you" - mind you, this is a nearly 70 year old woman doing bump and grind stage routines that make MTV hip/hop videos look rated G. She was great. The highlights of the show for me were renditions of "At Last," "Strung Out" (a Johnny "Guitar" Watson tune,) and "I'd rather go blind."


Etta James



It was a great way to spend an afternoon and realize that getting older should be no impediment to doing whatever you love. Thanks Ellen.


This entry originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


Technorati Tags: Blues | Villa Montalvo | Etta James

We're on the eve of another college football season. The teams have been practicing and preparing for the next 4 months of fun. The Bucks had their fall jersey scrimmage yesterday with the defense pulling out a W on the last play, 66-65 retaining the scarlet jerseys until spring. Bucknuts has a great story about the scrimmage with all the gory detail posted here.





Everyone is focused on Texas and Iowa as opponents in the month of September, but the first game and the one all attention should be focused toward is Northern Illinois. Sept 2 the Huskies will take the field in Columbus and it's not realistic to view this team as a practice squad that the Bucks will simply roll over. On paper, it's a mismatch. But, experience tells us that weird things happen in early season games. NIU returns a talented tailback in Garrett Wolfe and a pretty deep and experienced offensive line. I don't think this one is decided until late 3rd quarter with the Buckeyes winning 34-24 in a game closer and tougher than anyone anticipated.


On a related note, English Premiership soccer (football for you Brits) returns this weekend. Chelsea (my adopted team as it seems to irritate those in the know) takes on Manchester City tomorrow. I expect a thorough thrashing with the Blues winning 3 nil. We'll see!


Original posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


Technorati Tags: Football | Ohio State Football

My daughter is 3 years old. As a 3 year old, she has some irrational fears. Not what you'd think like monsters in the closet or the boogeyman, but fear of car washes. Like most parents, I struggle from time to time on how to get my daughter to listen to me and periodically, I'll use this fear against her. "If you don't do X, then we're going to go to the car wash." Works like a charm.


My observation is that our culture has many parallels to that 3 year old outlook with irrational fears driven by irresponsible government officials - not out of malice (hopefully,) but stupidity. They blindly fall into the age old saw "good intentions pave the way to hell." The result: security theater. This term was coined by Bruce Schneier, a noted computer security figure, in his book Beyond Fear and refers to the specious activities purported to "improve security."


Let's take the most recent example of this phenomenon: The liquid bomb plot. I'm glad that people are paying attention to wackos who wish infidels (us) death and dismemberment. But, I would think that some degree of skepticism would be employed when evaluating the potential threat vs. simply having a knee jerk reaction to ban all liquids from going on airplanes.


A colleague forwarded me this link yesterday that has a pretty good assessment of the plausibility of actually fabricating and detonating such a device on an airplane. The short version is, it's not plausible. Creating a bomb from acetone and peroxide is wishful thinking on the part of would-be terrorists and shoddy science on the part of the governments evaluating this to be a credible threat. Would these terrorists discover the implausibility? Probably. Try something else? Probably. It's a good thing that they've been arrested and I applaud our intelligence and law enforcement communities for that work.


The risk was effectively eliminated when the arrests were made. There was no need (or benefit) to changing the security posture at airports, canceling flights, or any of the other histrionics we've seen in the past few days. It is, plainly, security theater calculated to use the public's irrational fears to some greater aim. What that aim is, we can speculate. But I can imagine it is but one event we'll see in the next few months to remind us our politicians are "protecting us" in advance of mid-term elections.


Let's talk about risk for a moment. I've invested a huge amount of time over the past few years quantifying risk, in computer operations specifically. Risk really can be broken down into a defined condition that leads to a particular outcome set. That outcome can be positive, neutral, or negative. When quantifying the liklihood of a particular outcome, one needs to examine two axes, probability of occurrence in a defined time frame and severity of the outcome. Thus we can quantify any specific risk with probability and severity by outcome.


Now, let's examine actual risk of negative outcome from planned air travel. What is the most dangerous part of this journey? The trip to the airport in a car. Your odds of being a traffic fatality in any given year in the US? 14.52 per 100,000 people. Your odds of being dying by air travel (terrorism inclusive?) 0.027 in 100,000 flight hours according to NTSB or 1 in 8,000,000 flight opportunities. Or an even better way to characterize this: If one gets on a random flight every day, it would take 22,000 years before the negative outcome of death would occur. More mortality statistics available in this entry.


If we're willing to accept the odds of driving to the airport, I think that the risk of negative outcome needs to rise above the rate we've accepted before we perform another act of security theater. It's past time we get rational about the fears we have and pragmatic about how we respond to them. There is no such thing as zero risk of negative outcome. Let's find a balance that is close to what we implicitly accept every day.


One of my favorite quotes is from Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up an essential liberty for safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." I couldn't have said it better myself.


This entry was originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


Technorati Tags: Terror | Security | Safety

One of the things about living in Montara on the California coast is that the Pacific Ocean really dominates your view, climate, and lifestyle. You don't really get a sense for how dynamic the experience is until you've lived it, unless, you use sensors to record and document your surroundings.


This is where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's program called the National Data Buoy Center comes into play. The NDBC program has arrayed buoys all over and has equipped them with instrumentation to record what's happening around them. In addition, each buoy transmits data back to the center forming a network of sensors used by weather services, fishermen, surfers, ships, etc. These buoys, combined with ship and shore based stations, form a vast network collecting information on air and water temperature, humidity, wave height (frequency and face angle,) air pressure, and wind speed and direction. It's a pretty comprehensive measurement suite.


Classes of buoys in use



The specific buoy I monitor is #46012, anchored some 38 kilometers SW of San Francisco at GPS coordinates 37°21' 39"N 122°52'53" W.


Class of buoy representative of #46012



The bottom line: NDBC is a very useful sensor network that is way underappreciated.


Technorati Tags: Buoy | Science | Sensors

Originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.

This entry originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


And there is a Internet site to take their dough.


The latest example is WhoToHate.com. What do they do? Send an anonymous mail to the object of your enmity for a fin ($5.) The only good news I can see in this is that the most hated individual on the Top 10 hated is George Bush, with 7 hate mails delivered. Business is not booming.


Why not ILikeYou.com as an alternative? I guess that starts to get into questionable business models and content too.


Who sends an anonymous hate-o-gram? Does it say more about the hater or the hatee? Does one feel better after sending such a missive?


Guess I yearn for a simpler time, when the Pet Rock was the way to harvest spare money.....Heck, there's even an Internet community for pet rocks now.....



Technorati Tags: Scams | Pet Rock | Business

This entry originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


There must be something in the water. Everyone is updating uniforms. I've monitored lively discussions on the Bucknuts forum about the new Buckeye uniforms. Summary, the fans don't like them, the players do.





Last night I inadvertently watched the Monday night preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings. I'm not a big NFL fan and thus haven't been following things this season yet, but the officials now have had a uniform makeover. Change isn't really an issue for me, but change for change's sake is stupid. These new uni's remind me stylistically of the failed XFL.....probably not what they were going for. Let's go back to the regular zebra suits, OK?





Technorati Tags: Humor | NFL | Ohio State Football

Originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com.


Same rules apply, here are some items I found useful, entertaining, silly, interesting, etc. There is no relationship intended between them.

• Venture Funding alive and well in the Valley as reported by the San Jose Mercury News.
  
• 46,000 of pieces of plastic per square mile of ocean! I believe it, we see a fair amount wash up on our beaches.
  
• Hot tip: Buy science text book publishers. If the redefinition of what a constitutes a planet pass, Pluto is history and we'll get up to 14 newly defined planetary bodies in our solar system.
  
• Is William Shatner still alive? Apparently so and he wants to save Star Trek from fan apathy. Too late, after 5 series and 8 movies, I think Star Trek should be allowed to fade into the sunset. Please. It's time.
  
• For Ohio State's defense this year, talent isn't the issue. It's experience. Let's hope these young people mature in a hurry with big games early at Texas and at Iowa. Coach Heacock talks about their progress here.
  
• Your tax dollars at work (I'm sure glad we sent the National Guard in to help.) We've got to protect our borders from ROGUE CHEESE!
  
• Televised Wiffle ball? Please, no! Next up: professional grass championships - growing it that is.
  
• KillerRoos, the lesser known cousin of the Kangaroo, once galloped through the outback looking for meat....
  

Originally posted at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/?p=89


Kevin Sturge sent me a link to the Eepybird's video (embedded below) showing a Bellagio-like display featuring Diet Coke and Mentos in lieu of traditional fountains. It was hilarious. Apparently I'm one of the last to know about this as the Eepybird video has been seen 6 million times already. A Google search of "Diet Coke Mentos" yields 3.8M results. Heck, it was even on the David Letterman Show. Clearly, I'm late to the party!


The Eepybird Video (101 2 liter bottles of Diet Coke and 523 Mentos)



Seeing this got me thinking, what causes this reaction? Carbonation? Is there some special ingredient?


Now serendipity steps in, I sit down to watch some TV last night and lo and behold the MythBusters are queued up on my ReplayTV with an episode devoted to, drum roll please, Diet Coke + Mentos! What are they setting out to do?

• Find out what causes the reaction (just saved me a few hours of tinkering)
  
• Compete to see how high they can send a stream of Diet Coke into the air (saved me a few hours of fun)
  
• Build a Diet Coke/Mentos powered rocket (you'll have to watch this to see the results)
  
• Discover some more interesting home concoctions (I liked the methane soap bubble trick)
  

A pointer update, new blog entry available at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


I've made several references to the amount of time I've spent traveling in the past few years. When I mention places I've been people who don't travel frequently tend to say things like "Oh, that's sounds great, I wish I had the opportunity to do that." And you know what, I agree if the travel is reasonably limited. If the travel is frequent, it feels more like a curse than anything else.


A peculiar habit I formed was keeping the ticket stub from each segment flown. Once home, the stub was impaled on a wire holder. Here's a snapshot of my ticket stub collection from the past 5 years - business travel mind you, not personal.


5 years of business travel on a stick



Here's a slightly different view, a layout of the stubs on the floor



Before you take the time to count them, there are 224 stubs. That's an average of nearly 1 flight per week over 5 years. No wonder I feel tired when I think about travel. Consider, 1 whole year of that time I took only 1 flight due to budget constraints and travel restrictions, it's even worse compressed into 4 years.


I'm not complaining, clearly there are people who travel more than I. But, it's interesting to see such a physical representation I think.


Technorati Tags: Travel | Ticket Stubs | Collections

A pointer update, new blog entry available at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


Tuesday in Brazil, a workman trying to free scrap metal from a rocket propelled grenade managed to kill himself, wound a colleague, and destroy his workshop. The explosion apparently was the result of using a sledgehammer (yes, he was beating on an item intended to a) propel itself at high speed toward a target and b) explode) to break open the shell.


Garden variety rocket propelled grenade



Garden variety hand propelled grenade



Unfortunately, this isn't the first time this sort of accident has happened with live ammunition. The Darwin Awards, the ultimate recognition for mankind's varied and stupid ways to thin the gene pool, has many different stories. The one that leapt out at me was the gentleman who intended to use a live grenade as a weight for a chimney cleaning scheme and attempted to weld the grenade to another piece of metal with predictable and spectacular results.


Gallows humor aside, this is a sad state of affairs when economics make it worthwhile to risk one's life for a bit of scrap metal.


Technorati Tags: Grenade | Darwin Awards | Scrap Metal

A pointer update, new blog entry available at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


Yesterday I ran across two interesting bed-related stories, one about the resurgence of bed bugs in the US and the other about a designer's dream for a floating bed.


Common bed bug



Uncommon floating bed



I'm not sure I ever want a floating bed and the bed bug thing makes me think twice about hotels these days.....


Technorati Tags: Floating Bed | Bed Bugs | Hotels

A pointer update, new blog entry available at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


As referenced in a previous post, there are a bunch of interesting materials being developed that are ending up in apparel. The examples already given are the "buzz off hat" with insect repellent embedded in the material and the smart-kini (ok, I just made that up) sensor bikini that provides the wearer information about UV exposure.


Phase change materials are a distinct class that do something interesting and valuable. I was talking to a colleague about this recently and she indicated that she'd love to have clothing where the sleeves would "grow." The example she provided was that it's warm in the Denver summer, but if you change elevation much it gets cold fast and that she's constantly carting around extra clothing for this reason. Well, phase change materials don't "grow", but they do have the powerful property of being able to absorb, store, and release heat by changing from solid to liquid and back again.


PCMs, in combination with micro-encapsulation, have made these heat absorbtion, storage, and release properties available for use in fabrics. Several companies now have make this technology available to manufacturers including Outlast, Microtek, and TCP Reliable. Here are some examples:

• Gloves
  
  
• Shoes
  
  
• Shirt
  
  
• Linens
  
  
• Beer label (think cold beer, warm hand)
  
  

A pointer update, new blog entry available at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.


This is a stream of consciousness entry. There isn't any intended relationship of the following items. Something of a panorama of stuff this early Monday morning.

• It is SO GREAT to have Highway 1 open again. It certainly was quiet living in the world's largest accidental cul de sac, but it's much better to be able to visit our neighbors in Pacifica. Thanks to everyone who put in the hard work to get the slide back open!
  
• Last week, starting quarterback Rhett Bomar was kicked off Oklahoma's football team for taking $18,000 of pay while not working. This morning, I saw a thread started in January naming him in this activity. So why did it take 7 months to come out into the mainstream?
  
• U R Sckd - the text message a worker in England got last week.
  
• The largest US oil field has been shut down due to pipeline corrosion, that is not good news.
  
• Speaking of energy, I heard a radio report of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Minnesota last week. The campaign slogan for the mid-term elections may well be "Would you rather spend your money in the Middle East or the Middle West for energy? (referencing using corn to make ethanol.)" I hope it sticks. Probably it won't, it's pragmatic and makes too much sense.
  

This is merely a pointer update, original entry is posted here (www.montaraventures.com/blog/).

This is going to be a pretty short entry simply to answer the question, "what are you going to do now?"


The short answer is, I've purposely decided not to decide right now.


Background: I've been working at least 40 hours (and more routinely, 80+ hours) a week for the past 24 years, the longest break I've had in that time is a two week vacation taken for my honeymoon in 1995. The time is right to take stock, think about what I really want to accomplish and contribute, and then chart a course. As a consequence, I'm targeting October to make firm plans about Mike.Nxt by answering a few key questions.


The questions are as follows:

• Do I take another job or start a company?
  
• If I take another job, is it merely a "job" (no emotional attachment, allows for personal balance) or is it a "cool job?" (emotional attachment expected, balance is tough)
  
• If no job, do I start a "lifestyle company" (small, local, and intended to stay that way) or indulge my technopreneurial streak to start a more traditional tech startup?
  

I'll be shifting my posting to my personal blog, so this is simply a pointer update. I'll do these pointer updates through August.

Entry posted here at http://www.montaraventures.com/blog/.

Originally published in my personal blog.

To everything there is a season
And a time for every purpose under heaven


A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to laugh, a time to weep
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time of war, a time of peace

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (or The Byrds/Simon & Garfunkel if you prefer)

Change is an interesting phenomena. Some fear change, some crave change, some flee change, and some embrace change. Ultimately, it is change that enables us to grow and mature. Today brings a big change for Sun, for my team, Customer Network Services, and for me.

Sun has been very transparent about changes the company intends to make in order to achieve and sustain profitability. As a result of these stated plans, we have executed a reduction in force in Customer Network Services today.

Consistent profitability is vital to Sun's long term survival. As a consequence, many difficult decisions were made to ensure that appropriate focus and investment are channeled into the most important products, programs, and activities. It's easy to criticize any of the decisions that have been made; the encouraging thing is difficult decisions have been made and executed against for the greater good of the company. Hopefully, this is the last time Sun needs to resort to such measures to achieve stated financial objectives. If you haven't been through this sort of thing before, I can assure you the selection processes for what to continue, what to dial back, and what to stop are gut wrenching. There is no good answer available, only "less bad" alternatives.

While it is disappointing to be affected by these choices, they are necessary to allow Sun to move forward. That doesn't mean our work has been in vain or not had an impact. During this era of CNS, we've been able to create a platform over which network services can be created, deployed, and operated. We've released several new network services including Sun Update Connection, Hosted and Enterprise in production and for sale. In addition Eco Connection, Security Connection, Asset Connection, and Knowledge Connection have been developed and released into Fresh Tools. We've also been the key technology provider for Sun's Services business, with Sun Preventive Services the foremost client therein. We've been able to maintain and improve some 50 odd services products and tools as we've advanced the overall state of network services. The network services capabilities have either been embedded or are being embedded in all of Sun's technologies since Solaris 10, Update 1. We've successfully acquired and integrated a company into the network services team, and released the first product within the first quarter of joint operations. The financial impact has been impressive in terms of direct revenue, enabled revenue, and efficiencies. I am proud of what our team has accomplished.

There are several messages I'd like to convey in this entry; to our customers and partners, to those team members leaving Sun, and to those team members remaining with Sun.

First to our customers. You are why we're here. We've provided a number of interesting innovations that you can choose to take advantage of by connecting and participating in our network services infrastructure. If you like what you see, provide feedback and lots of it. We'll continue to support and develop network services in production today. If you see something in Fresh Tools that you really like, let us know. That will help us prioritize and promote the right network services for your benefit.

To our partners, we'll maintain the same level of engagement with you and continue to provide network services you can take advantage of in your business. Like the advice to customers above, if you like something in Fresh Tools, let us know.

To our team members affected by the reduction, you've all done a fantastic job. I am proud of each of you for helping to make the network services business a reality. There's no way around it, being notified that your job is gone sucks. It's going to feel bad. However, I hope that with the passage of time you can reflect on what we've accomplished and feel the pride of a job well done. Meanwhile, use your packages to craft a new era for yourself: start a company, get a new job, switch careers, go back to school. Whatever you do, make sure it's something you love to do in a place where you are surrounded by good people.

To our team members staying with Sun, you've also done a fantastic job. And in some ways, your mission is more challenging now than it has ever been in the past. The scope of the mission has narrowed and you're left to carry it forward. You can do it. We've laid the groundwork to make network services a success at Sun and to help drive and lead the industry in this area. Keep your eyes on the prize and excute with the same intensity and focus and everything will come out right. Roll with the changes, embrace them, and improve upon them. In this way, you can help Sun win.

Finally, a word about me. Like Jay Littlepage before me, I've made the decision it's time to pass the baton to the next runner in the network services race. Steve, get ready, here's the pass. Go! As for my future, I've decided that the time is right to leave Sun and take on a new challenge. Watch my personal blog for details if you're interested.

Change is inevitable. In every change there is opportunity. Seize your opportunity and make the most of it.

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