Overheard talking about meaningful use

Meaningful use is more than just the incentives or even the information technology… meaningful use is all about how you’re practicing medicine. Joseph Fortuna, Providers consider how to overcome EHR meaningful use obstacles

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is meaningful use.

Overheard talking about pocket printers

Remember the days when you would ‘shake it like a Polaroid picture?’ Dell has introduced a new player in the inkless printer world, a pocket printer called the Dell Wasabi.  Any device with PictBridge capability can be used to print out full color prints. Sarah Meyer, Dell Wasabi review

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is PictBridge.

Overheard talking about the Zeus banking Trojan

Zeus is the biggest banking Trojan out there. It’s the nastiest, most sophisticated Trojan I’ve ever seen. It’s a money-stealing machine. Laura Mather, Zeus Trojan hitting banking customers hard

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is Zeus Trojan toolkit.

Overheard talking about machine-to-machine connections

For every single human being punching phone numbers or surfing the net on the T-Mobile network, there could be four machines chirping away quietly, embedded in utility meters, cars, freight containers, medical equipment, wristwatches and even the oversized flashlights carried by cops. Kevin Fitchard, T-Mobile: M2M connections to outnumber humans 4-to-1

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is machine-to-machine (M2M).

Overheard talking about full disk encryption

In my opinion, it is not necessary to encrypt workstation hard drives, so long as your organization is not subject to any regulations requiring such encryption, no data is deliberately stored on the workstation hard drives and the organization has adequate physical security. Brian Posey, Workstation hard drive encryption: Overdue or overkill?

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is full disk encryption.

Overheard talking about business rules engines

The idea is to keep all the business rules in one repository, written in a way that business users can quickly grasp and edit as needs change. In this way, business rules act as a coordinating force between process models and data models. Rob Barry, Try incremental design for business rules systems

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is business rules engine.

Overheard talking about Blue Gene

“The Blue Gene supercomputers are an outstanding example of our investment in nuclear security providing the tools to tackle broader national challenges. This machine, which was originally developed to ensure the safety and reliability of our nuclear stockpile without testing, has led to amazing advances in science and discovery.” NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino, Blue Gene Named Medal of Technology and Innovation Award Winner

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is Blue Gene.

From IBM:

President Obama recognized IBM and its Blue Gene family of supercomputers with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the country’s most prestigious award given to leading innovators for technological achievement…

…Blue Gene systems have helped map the human genome, investigated medical therapies, safeguarded nuclear arsenals, simulated radioactive decay, replicated brain power, flown airplanes, pinpointed tumors, predicted climate trends, and identified fossil fuels – all without the time and money that would have been required to physically complete these tasks.

Overheard talking about security in the cloud

“Stop saying cloud, because that doesn’t help. Talk about what you really want. From there, the security needs can be work out.” Archie Reed, RSA: Cutting Through the Cloud Security Talk

I love this man. He is soooooo right.

Overheard talking about data breaches

“The attacks to steal credit cards are significant, but the real threat is to intellectual property.” David Burg, Companies urged to share data breach information

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is data breach.

Overheard talking about LEED

“There is no greater advantage to a LEED school than using it as a teaching tool for our next generation.” Jody L. Henry, DESIGN COMPLETE FOR 105,000-SF, LEED-GOLD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN SPRING ISD NEAR HOUSTON

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). It’s a certification for green buildings.

Dr. Ujjval K. Vyas says:

Owners’ prime interest in sustainable design remains economically driven, since many LEED projects show clear life-cycle cost advantages and will often help smooth the way for community approval. Contractors, on the other hand, are interested in responding to the changing marketplace (this is especially the case for contractors involved in the public sector) and seek to obtain first-in-time status to acquire a competitive edge.

It seems like every datacenter architect has the letters LEED AP after their names.  I get the LEED part, but I can’t seem to find out what the letters “A” and “P” stand for.  Approved Person?

I’m also interested in finding out why LEED certification is such a hot topic.  Are there tax advantages? Is it just for PR?  I can understand why a building owner would want to upgrade his heating/electrical etc. to save money by improving efficiency, but why would go after the LEED certification when you’re retrofitting an older building?  Are bragging rights worth the hassle of getting certified?