Cell Phone+Laptop+Internet access+some freetime= a Startup Company

Basically with this simple setup you can launch your first Startup Company with a total initial cost of less then $500.

It’s time we stop counting on the government to provide jobs. With the rapid growth coupled with rapid increase in affordability for communications, you can reach millions of people around the world who are in need of your skills or products. A product that may not have a significant value in one country, may bring top dollars in another, selling products online can be a significant source of additional income or even your main source of income.

The internet opened the doors to people who are hungry for everything (knowledge and products) and there was no time in human history where the entire world was within reach as it’s today.

Some technologies will always be in Beta stage

I liked this Article “Adapting to Life in Perpetual Beta.” Most of our current technologies are in constant development and there will be no final release. The fact that we deepened so heavily on technology to run our daily lives, companies will always be in the look for that “great idea.”
The majority of us wait till the final release of the product before we make a buying decision, but observing current technical trends, there many not be a final release, there will always be improvements.

The Disadvantages of All-in-One technology

It first started with All-in-One printers (scanner, fax, printer) and then cell phones with many features (now your cell is phone is nothing but a mini computer in your pocket) and finally we have All-in-one computer (the entire PC is one big flat screen.)

The problem with All-in-One technology is when the device breaks, you lose the services of many devices at once, In the case of All-in-One printer, if you simply misplace the power cable, and you lose the services of three devices.

Or in the case of wireless broadband router+ Modem, you loss the services of two devices if anything malfunction in the device.

In the past, they said; don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Is it time for a national access plan for communication services?

The amount of time we spend on searching the right plan for our commutations services (Internet and cell phone) is ridiculous and at times, overwhelming.

The various service plans details frustrate even the most informed customer. If you visit any cellular phone company retail outlet, you would see most customers having questions about either the various service plans or about the charges on their bill that they don’t understand.

As the internet and cellular phone services are becoming an integral part of our daily lives, it’s time for a national plan for communication services. A fixed plan that would provide the basic communications services to every citizen at an affordable rate.

The complex structure of data and voice service plans in its current format is a burden and unfair to the average user who just want to be connected.

Why there was a sudden surge on the sales of HP webOS tablet?

The simple answer is “the price.” Apple IPAD costs somewhere between $400-$700, which is a heavy price to pay for a device and a technology that not many people are familiar with. A price tag of $500 can get you a very decent laptop loaded with a powerful processor and tons of accessories, so why someone would want to pay more than $400 for a tablet with limited functionality?

But at $99 for a tablet made by HP, most people were willing to make the move even if this will be their first tablet experience, a $99 tablet is low risk investment and millions of people would be willing to take that risk.

This also brings us to another conclusion: is the tablets and Smartphone market overpriced? People can a make a good use of a tablet or a Smartphone, but they are still not convinced with the price tag.

Your social media profile is in the cloud

Your facebook profile is in the cloud, your tweets are in the cloud and your LinkedIn profile is also in the cloud, so why so much worries about moving data or applications to the “cloud”?

If we take a deeper look, most of our online activities are taking place in the cloud. Online banking, for example, is all happening in the cloud, you are accessing your account which resides in a database that is stored in a server.

The actual movement of data from our storage devices to the “storage in the cloud” gives us the mental image of having the data move from our hands to someone’s else’s hands, but we already do that when we perform any transaction online.

The mental image of seeing our data leave our storage devices will hinder most of us from moving our data to the “cloud” but it will also take from us chances to take full advantage of the cloud technology.

Only 30% of world population has Internet access…. what that means to IT professionals?

As reported by the BBC, Only 30% of world population has Internet access. The is really low considering the impact the Internet is making around the world at political and social levels.

At only 30% penetration, the world has a long way to go to get everyone connected, the IT industry has years of work laid ahead and this work will mostly be in the developing world. Some of the IT professions that will be in demands for some years to come:

Network Technicians and Engineers
E-commerce site developers
Internet Security professionals
Mobile applications developers
Software testers
Project managers
Website localization experts
Cloud computing professional
Data Backup experts
Telecommunications professionals

As necessities such as water, electricity, shelter, food and health care are basic human rights, in the near future, one more right will be added “access to the Internet.”

When an idea takes a hold, you may miss opportunities somewhere else

Reading the latest news about online privacy and hacking, one only wonders if there are other ways of addressing these issues. After every data preach, security experts explain how it happened, but you wonder “why they didn’t prevent it from happening on the first place?” Probably because their mind was set on one approach and that idea took hold and they ignored the other possibilities (vulnerabilities) that a hacker may exploit.

The same concept could be applied to many hot topics of the day such as (cloud computing, green technology, mobile apps, social media websites, etc.) Focusing so much on green technology may actually stress the environment by using green resources.

This is not only about “thinking out of the box”, but it is about how popular culture controls our thought process that even by “thinking out of the box” we are still thinking within some type of boundaries.

Who owns the Internet, the Governments or the Citizens?

There is not simple answer to this question, on one hand, the internet is running on infrastructures provided mainly by the governments, but on the other hand, the real usefulness of the internet is driven by the ingenuity of the millions of people around the world whose ideas, innovations and willingness to share made the internet what it’s today.

Throughout history human always fought for more freedom and the internet was and still the tool where most people can express their opinions without the fear of persecution.

Governments set laws and eventually use force to have control, without control, no government can really govern its people.

But the majority of internet users around the world are resisting any governmental intervention on the free cyberspace world. But the internet has become an integral part of our daily living and it must be regulated, but the public don’t want anyone to tell them what they can and can’t do online. This is a dilemma.

Two same search queries get two different results on the same search engine

An interesting TED video on how search engines really deice on what results shown to you depending on your location and other factors.

Search engines are becoming more like targeted advertising; they show you what “they” think you want to see not what you should see. It’s acceptable to see banner advertising displayed along your search results specific to your location, but it’s quite unacceptable to see different search results for the same search “query” depending on your location.

The vast amount of data available on the Internet may be limited by search engine algorithm.