Sign of The Times

There was a day when Bell installers took time and care. Times have changed. Now I see rat's nests in switch rooms, hyper-messy cable runs and loose, interior cable, running willy-nilly all over the exteriors of people's houses. This photo from India provides a glimpse of what may well be in our future.

Thanks to J. David Windrim for this one. (I have no idea who took the shot.)

The Management Myth

"The thing that makes modern management theory so painful to read isn’t usually the dearth of reliable empirical data. It’s that maddening papal infallibility."

Written from front-row experience, this timely and refreshing article from Atlantic magazine provides a down-to-Earth, witty, and somewhat unconventional view of today's management-by-numbers style and the MBA arena in general.

Much to think about.

Take-home pointers from the article:

- Expand the domain of your analysis,

- Hire people with greater diversity of experience,

- Remember the three Cs: Communication, Communication, Communication.

Thanks to Douglas Reid, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Distinguished Faculty Teaching Fellow at the Queen’s University School of Business, Kingston for pointing out this article.

Atlantic Magazine - The Management Myth

All About Mobile Apps

Oh! And one more from the ITU!

(Why not let's just call it 'an ITU Weekend?)

Anyway. You may have noticed how quickly mobile terminals (smartphones) are moving into the enterprise/business user space. This is primarily due to the recent ability to actually make your 'cell phone' very useful by loading small applications that help you get things done. Once you've tried it, guaranteed, you'll be hooked -- assuming you're not already.

Anyway. This brief does a great job of laying out what an 'APP Store' is, why people use them and what's coming down the tubes in the near future.

Mobile Applications Brief

The Future of the Internet

Here's another great brief from the ITU. A current view of ongoing I-way development, including an update of wireless on the Web and a once-over of an increasingly popular movement to reinvent the Internet from clean slate.

'The Future of the Internet'

Clouds, Grids and Utilities.

This very clear. concise, interesting and useful report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) provides a great overview of current network trends:

'Distributed Computing: Utilities, Grids & Clouds'