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EDGE: An acronym for Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution, this is what experts call a bolt-on enhancement of GSM. It takes a second generation (2G) network and makes it roughly 2.75G. EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbit/second for 4 timeslots. AT&T's EDGE network was delivering roughly 40 kbit/s before it was upgraded in advance of iPhone's launch. Today several sites are reporting download speeds of better than 200 kbits/s over the same network.

I will just dump a mess of links from an old E-mail I did on this some time ago. It's all good stuff, Solar two in Mojave was also molten salt based. I knew someone who bought it after it failed and got to explore it before it was partly dismantled.

---------

Solar two was a flat mirror array.

Search google image search with
            "solar two" Mojave

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=yermo,+ca&ie=UTF8&ll=34.871919,-116.83416&spn=0.005915,0.010042&t=h&z=17&om=1

Take the link above and zoom out, just below and to the right is a Parabolic glass mirrors plant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Two

http://www.powerfromthesun.net/Chapter10/Chapter10new.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Solar_Two_2003.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Solar_Two_Heliostat.jpg

http://theothersolar.com/?m=200702

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1101-10.htm

http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/solar-central-power-towers.html

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/edu/dees/U4735/projections/pitman/solar.elec.jpg

http://fixedreference.org/2006-Wikipedia-CD-Selection/wp/s/Solar_power.htm
(search for "Solar two")

http://www.reia-nm.org/HTML_Docs/Solar_Thermal_Electrical.html

http://greatgreengadgets.com/gadgets/category/solar/

http://www.answers.com/topic/solar-thermal-energy

http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/2006/week44/index.html

Excellent page on many technologies - Sorry it's in Spanish.
      http://g3nergy.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html
      Search for "Australia to Build 154 MW Solar Energy Plant"
      This one is identical in design to the one in the Mojave Dessert here.

http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA4965/ Abandoned Solar Power Plant

They disabled appointment entry for the calendar widget. That's really too bad, since I was hoping that this device could be the convergence of my Palm T|X and my iPod. Does anyone know if they crippled any other features of the iPhone? I would have bought one if it truly was an iPhone minus the phone. (I refuse to give AT&T $1500 on top of the not-even-subsidized cost of the iPhone.)

I guess the other thing I'm waiting for is an API for programmers. I like to store my passwords and PINs using encryption on my device. (1) Storing them on someone's server using their Safari-based web app won't work, and (2) Hacks people are using to write native apps aren't sanctioned and may stop working in the future. Sigh... C'mon Apple, open it up!

You fail to take into account that Sony and Microsoft take a loss on each console sold, whereas Nintendo actually makes a profit on them.

Sounds similar to the new hybrid electric car that Dean Kamen & the Norwegian company 'Think' are working on. I put it on my blog not long ago.

It's not possible to replace most of the IC engines in place with today with alternative technologies available today.

Correct, however, we have to start somewhere. I'd rather be positive and "act locally, think globally" then give up and say, "oh there's nothing I can do". I can't buy an electric car car due to the price of batteries but I hope that Think's business comes to SF soon ( http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/2007/02/new _think_buy_t.html ) so it will be possible. I think that Americans will need to do a mind adjustment in order to tackle CO2 emission properly. Think about eliminating all Coal and gas burning power plant and think about using hybrid/all-electric cars for commuting. Rent a gas powered car for those weekend getaways. That's the way we'll minimize the impact of global warming and probably save our kids future past 2050.

If it means making the government force the car companies to adjust production and fighting back against the oil company lobbyists, then lets do it. I don't think they'll change unless we make them change.

Fuck bush and his subservience to big oil and big autos. As companies, I hope they fail for letting down the American public for so long. Go Toyota and Tesla for forward thinking!

cheers
Ben

Does anyone know how efficient stirling engines installations are compared with solar panels?

According to this article the quote from Microsoft's Robbie Bach is incorrect. Bach doesn't claim to have sold a million Zunes, instead he says "When we finish our fiscal year in June we'll have sold a little over a million Zunes, so we feel very good about that."

So they think they're on schedule to ship a million, but not yet.

First, it appears that the newspaper story is inaccurate--they have NOT sold 1 million Zunes yet; they actually said that they EXPECT to sell 1 million by the END of June:

http://blogs.business2.com/apple/2007/05/microsoft s_zune.html

"Bach didn't actually say that Microsoft had already sold a million Zunes. If you listen to the interview, which the Chronicle helpfully provides in a podcast, what Bach said was

Bach: WHEN WE FINISH OUR FISCAL YEAR IN JUNE we'll have sold a little over a million Zunes, so we feel very good about that. [emphasis added]

That's what we used to call an editing error, one that mistakes a projection with actual sales and adds about 15% to the time frame. Microsoft still has more than a month to sell its first million Zunes, which would put it on the schedule it set for itself, not ahead. "

Second, to answer how long it took Apple to sell 1 million iPods, look at their quarterly sales figures:

http://www.systemshootouts.org/ipod_sales.html

10/23/01: iPod introduced
06/30/03: 984,000 total iPods sold
09/30/03: 1,320,000 total iPods sold

Based on the 92 day difference, you can calculate that they sold the 1 millionth iPod around 7/5/03.

So, 10/23/01 - 7/5/03 = 620 days, or about 20.5 months to sell the first 1 million iPods, compared with Microsofts' prediction (based on the ACTUAL quote, not the inaccurate article) of 11/14/06 - 6/30/07, or 228 days (7.5 months).

While this sounds impressive, it should be noted that the iPod was MAC ONLY until 10/13/03 (ie, throughout the entire period during which it sold it's first 1 million iPods. Not only was it Mac-only (aside from 3rd-party hacks), but it was restricted to FIREWIRE-ENABLED Macs, which weren't even introduced until the end of 1999. Assuming about 4% of the market for the Mac, and assuming that perhaps half the Macs in use at the time included FireWire, that means only about 2% of the total computer market could even use the iPod.

In addition, even those third-party hacks for Windows compatibility (which mostly sucked, and which weren't available for the first year or so) *still* required the PC in question to include FireWire; at the time, I believe only a tiny fraction of Windows machines included it.

In other words, it took Apple 2.7 times as long to sell their first 1 million iPods, but they did so with 1/50th of the market available to the Zune!

In addition, at the time there was no iTunes store, not to mention that the original iPod cost (at the time) $399 for 5 GB, with no video, no photos, no games, no color screen, no podcasts, etc etc, vs. the (current) Zune's $249 for 30 GB with video, photos, etc etc, all of which makes the iPod's early sales rates even more impressive.

Yes, but Microsoft is buying Aquantive for 6B versus Google buying DoubleClick for 3.1B (US). Microsoft already owns most desktops and their software is well known to "call home". MS has massive amounts of data on users as well and this purchase could allow them to further track purchasing and browsing habits.

Why don't we hear more about Microsoft+Aquantitive? Could it be that they have better lobbyists in their pay?

http://blogs.business2.com/sloan/2007/05/why_micro softs_.html

More importantly is that this tool comes all over Mac fans.

There is little doubt to me these are inflated numbers which are probably counting 10-30M licenses to Dell/Gateway/HP which haven't even been sold to consumers.

"Vista's market share, meanwhile, more than doubled in the past month to 2.04%"
http://blogs.business2.com/apple/2007/04/os_market _share.html

The 360 is apparently sold at a small profit.

Whats better than a hybrid?
Building a better hybrid.

In particular a plugin hybrid electric vehicle.
Or in this case a prius with a bigger battery.
(Although a fully electric car, with the bare minimum for a gasoline generator is more ideal)

This study found that in regions where electricity comes primarily from natural gas, a plugin hybrid puts up 3x less CO2 emmisions.
And in the least green region of the United States powered almost entirely by coal.
They found that the CO2 emmisions per mile were practically idential to a normal hybrid.
http://www.aceee.org/pubs/t061.htm

Whats more, we could replace 84% of the US fleet of cars with electric, and not need to build even 1 new power plant by leveraging downtime grid usage. (More fuel use, but no new infrastructure needed)
http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/2006/12/plu gin_nation_g.html

Whats more, by having the distributed battery network stabalize the grid capacity.
We could actually make the grid far more reliable than it is today.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17930/
http://news.com.com/2100-11392_3-6174672.html

And there's some pretty sexy electric cars on the way.
http://www.greyfalcon.net/electriccars.png

_

Cool part about all this?
You can get electricity from the grid at a cost similar to 50 cents a gallon.
http://www.greyfalcon.net/plugins

And it's the perfect, "flexible fuel", since electricity can come from practically anything.
Unlike Ethanol for instance, which might be even worse than gasoline in pollution.
http://www.greyfalcon.net/ethanol2
http://www.greyfalcon.net/ethanol3
And biodiesel, which could potentially make Indonesia/Malaysia put up more CO2 than China.
http://www.greyfalcon.net/biofuel

Best part about this from an environmental perspective, is that combines two big problems into one.
So all you have to do is green the grid, to green everything.

And that can readily be provided by printable solar panels
http://www.greyfalcon.net/pv

And geothermal using inexpensive super powered electric drilling motors
http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1206
http://www.rasertech.com/media/movies/html/well_to _wheels.html
http://www.insidegreentech.com/node/1088

And it would be dropped because it's slippery...

http://blogs.business2.com/apple/2007/04/apple_iph ones_s.html

I've been reading all these articles for years now. And I find it laughable how these so called "analysts" predict future growth potential for their industries.

- "Study Predicts $42.8 Billion Music Market by 2005"
http://www.stereophile.com/news/10837/
http://p2pnet.net/story/1167?PHPSESSID=b43903d88ca b374c1c0915849c2c4c92

- "The video game industry will grow to $50 billion by 2008"
http://blogs.business2.com/business2blog/2005/02/v ideo_game_grow.html

Then it looks like these industries seem to think they are entitled to this money, that they should be getting. And if they aren't hitting the numbers, then something must be wrong! People must be stealing their music, or their movies, or their video games. Perhaps, maybe there's just too much competition in their industry - and a lot of the players must die off?

In reality, people face an increased rise in the cost of living. But they're not making any more money. So these entertainment industries are competing for precious dollars that need to be spent elsewhere.

How about some breakdowns:

- Salaries are stagnant across the nation. LA, SF, and NYC are the large cities. The salaries there should be higher than anywhere else, but companies hate, and I emphasize "hate" to pay any more than $50k/year for a person. $70k/year starts to afford you a mini-comfortable life, but you still got to watch your expenses. Six-figure incomes seems to be the holy grail that everyone wants to achieve - but not everyone can. And most people with good jobs, are already working 50-60 hours a week, this also includes travel time, lunch time, and preparation time in the mornings.

- Property values in the large cities have skyrocketed. You need to make over $125,000 annually just to qualify for a $500k home. This started after the dot-com boom. People with extra money buying up property. Then everyone tried to get into the house flipping craze, which really artificially jacked up property value. People are signing off on 30 and 40 year mortgages now.

- So this jacks up the rent. Rent keeps increasing. California is quickly becoming a land of renters. $1050/month is the minimum you can expect to pay for a tiny 1-bedroom apartment in LA. The only way to keep your cost of living low is to have 2 or 3 roommates. Unless you want to live in the ghettos with ghetto-birds always flying around your neighborhood at night. There you might find a 1-bedroom apartment for $700 - make sure to wear a bullet-proof vest.

- Energy costs have gone up. LA's average for gasoline is $2.50/gallon for 87 octane. $2.90/gallon for 91 octane. People are spending $125/month on gasoline now just to commute to work.

- Anyone with a job has car expenses. If they have a newer car, they'll have monthly car payments. If they have an older car, all paid off, they'll have maintenance expenses, and risk of the car breaking down. And there's the insurance cost to drive in LA.

- Most people have a cell phone now, which is $60/month.
- Internet - cable modem is $50/month.
- Cable TV - Basic cable is now $50/month.
- Food will cost you $300/month, if you want to eat cheap.

- And most people with a good job, also has student loans to pay off - which can range from $25k to $60k. And whatever credit card expenses they incurred during college when they didn't have a job.

- And if you're a guy, and you want a girlfriend, then you've got "dating expenses." Clubs love to charge guys $25 for cover, and let the girls in for free. Drinks in Hollywood are $13/piece.

And now... I can get to the entertainment expenses.
- A movie ticket is $10/piece.
- Then there are all the other fun things that you want to do to enjoy

Even Google is having trouble taking on that sector...

http://blogs.business2.com/beta/2006/12/google_che ckout.html

How about Debunking that tool, Rob Enderle and his "article". Or articles. Hell, just debunk the fool. I seriously question how this guy makes a living with his totally inaccurate stories.

In fact, one of the nice additions in Firefox 1.5 is the automatic cleaning of cache and cookies when one closes the browser.

Wasn't there an article about ad companies trying to convince people to keep the cookies on their system so there could be a more accurate assessment of online advertising? Oh yeah, here it is.

Then there is this article which was never posted from five months prior which says basically the same thing.

Yes, the NSA 'accidentally' was putting cookies on peoples systems but since people delete cookies anyway, this is one time I don't see the big deal (aside from the whole Big Brother issue).

I am wondering how this might all tie into the information back in August about a GoogleNet, if at all. http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,1 093558,00.htmlOm Malik of Buiness 2.0 talked about Google buying up unused fiber-optic cable across the country as well as superfast connections on the east coast and in Atlanta, Miami and NY. He suggested that these purhcases are needed for Google to unleash a flood of new bandwidth hungry aps. Everything from digital-video to on demand tv-programming, which would tie in nicely with the AOL Time Warner deal. http://blizzardinternet.blogs.com/blizzard_interne t_marketi/2005/12/google_will_pur.html

What's this about Google having their own fiber?

Companies are already looking to place products in reruns of older shows, going as far as to insert digial products. Video-technology company Princeton Video Image has for years used digital imaging to insert virtual first-down lines (with corporate logos) in football games and completely photorealistic but nonexistent "signs" behind home plate at baseball games. Now it wants to move into reruns, with technology that can seamlessly insert 3-D objects into video footage-a Pepsi on a desktop, a Lexus at a curbside, a box of Tide on a countertop-where there was nothing before. PVI is negotiating to do placements in reruns of Law & Order and hopes to strike deals with other syndicators and even first-run shows. "You could sell a box of cereal in the kitchen one [airing]," says PVI vice president Paul Slagle, "and dish soap in the next." PVI's Holy Grail: customizing insertions using interactive-TV technology-which is still distant and speculative-that would store viewer information (demographic details, even interactive purchases) as Web browsers do. Your TV would figure, Slagle says, "whether you're riper for a Cadillac or a Saturn." http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20010625 /tv.html

Also the whole Tivo increasing product placemnet is nothing new. Here are a few articles from as far back as 2001:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/18/apontv.ad s.everywhere.ap/
http://webserve.govst.edu/users/ghrank/Advertising /Pitch/1-hi/product_placing.htm
http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,5 29039,00.html
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=176 457&seqNum=2
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0124-02.ht m

And here is Buisness Week's product placment hall of fame from 1998: http://www.businessweek.com/1998/25/b3583062.htm

From above link:
The creator of Napster has a plan to help file-sharing networks go legit and make money for the music labels.

Perhaps some introduction to the theory of Peer Production would be beneficial for understanding the economic foundation of Open Source. Some links: Coase's Penguin, or Linux and the Nature of the Firm, The Economics of Peer Production

"only about a third of our revenue comes from our desktop business"

"Today our browser works in most midrange to high-end phones. We can easily adapt them to any mobile platform. We even have a browser for Microsoft smartphones. It's better than Microsoft's own mobile browser."

"Q: Apart from Nokia, what other major phone makers are bundling Opera -- and do they pay for it?

A: Motorola (MOT), Sony Ericsson, Kyocera, BenQ, Casio -- and we get paid for each unit shipped."

There's an article in the current issue of Business 2.0 that speculates as to the business model.

http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,1 093558,00.html

Part of it is not a revenue generation thing so much as a cost savings. Google has been buying up a lot of dark fibre... They're trying to eliminate a middleman for IP transit fees. "Millions of dollars per month in savings" etc.

There are a lot of things in this post to comment on. Generally, the situation is a catch-22. In order to make alternative energy sources / carriers cheaper, there has to be a demand for it, but in order for there to be a demand, it must be cheaper. The bottom line is that if we sit around debating the pros and cons of the different technologies, in the end we'll get nowhere.

There was an article posted here years ago which mentioned an inventor who has invented a hydrogen and oxygen powered rotary-style engine which is far more efficient than today's engines. Although his web site has not been updated in a very long time, it has some interesting ideas.

Article: http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,5 14029,00.html

Web Site: http://www.mcmastermotor.com/about_us.htm

Hardly a small problem -- in fact, VCs everywhere have been desperately looking for someone to fill this niche. That it's an established player, PayPal, that makes it first to the scene is understandable, but something entrepreneurs should put down as a missed opportunity. For context, the issue of micropayments was addressed by two other /. favorites, Business 2.0: http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/print/0,1 7925,1096807,00.html/ and Paul Graham: http://www.paulgraham.com/bronze.html/ Back to the drawing board...doh!

My favorite quote from the original story (and probably the same exact study) was from Eric Peterson of Jupiter Research:

"If consumers adopted a friendlier attitude toward cookies, the Internet would be a better place overall."

It might help if the blurb linked to the right part of the story (which is reg free).

Link

NYTimes is just annoying enough, but it would be nice for Slashdot to not link to paid registration articles. However, the 5 pics from the image gallery were pretty sweet. Personally, I like this idea. Not so much as an iPod, but as a multiGB HD system that I could easily use with my PDA, cellphone, or camera via Bluetooth rather than the limited 1GB/$99 flash sticks with their own fucking readers that no one else uses. Thus a photo on my camera is automatically dumped to my iPod if it's in range via BT and then sent to my PC via WiFi when I get home.

--
Want a free iPod?
Or try a free Nintendo DS, GC, PS2, Xbox. (you only need 4 referrals)
Wired article as proof

Is this supposed to be a photo of Steve Jobs in 10 years? If so, they did a pretty good job!

This may be somewhat off topic but may be relevant.

There was a reference to an article here a long time ago about a guy who was building a rotary engine which used hydrogen and oxygen as fuel and exhausted water. When you park your car, it plugs into solar panels which 'recharge' the water back into oxygen and hydrogen.

The article is still at http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,5 14029,00.html and the web site for the invention is at http://www.mcmastermotor.com/engine.htm. The web site has not been updated since 2001, though.

You have to follow the twisted money trail. A little effort and research unveils a wealth of information about this. This page directly says, and I quote: "Verizon(VZ) ... which owns T-Mobile"

They have a Microsoft's worst nightmare article in the last edition.

Business 2.0 has an interesting article titled "Microsoft's Worst Nightmare" with some additional background on the rise of Firefox.

Reading the text you can almost imagine Redmond concocting a cunning plan to distract 19-year-old Blake from his Firefox duties, involving free tickets to a tropical island with Natalie Portman. And daily hot grits via room service.

Here's the link to the Business 2.0 article talking about his new system which he claims is "the first electronic mechanism that ensures both integrity and privacy."

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/22/144625 0

Slack LCD TV Market Means Cheaper Phones And Monitors

Posted by timothy on Wednesday September 22, @11:01AM

from the lcd-prices-still-high dept.

Shakrai writes "CNN and Business2 are running a story about the apparent failure of LCD TVs to make a major market impact and what it means for you. Specifically for us geeks it means cheaper cellular phones and laptops due to an oversupply of LCD manufacturing. Does this mean I can finally afford that 21" LCD monitor I've always wanted?"

Business2.0 had an interesting article on an electronic voting machine idea David Chaum has come up with.

Dieblod is taking shortcuts trying to maximize short term profits. Corporate greed at its best.

There was an interesting article about the different mentality regarding work hours in Europe in the August issue of Business 2.0 entitled All Work, No Play? It Doesn't Pay. (hope this link works for everyone)

I think the subtitle speaks for it self : "European companies get it, but when will their workaholic American counterparts? Longer hours don't always add up to better work."

submitted and rejected today:

Business 2.0 is running a column that speculates that the negative publicity surrounding the Google IPO may be part of a Wall Street campaign to stop more companies from using the Dutch Auction system and bypassing the banks. It quotes such people as Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com , who relates what happened to them when they decided to follow the dutch auction method for their IPO.

Suchetha

Ron Rosenbaum, in his article "The Subterranean World of the Bomb", tells of a method a single person can use to turn both keys using a spoon.

I've just googled it. Here's a review of his book, The Secret Parts of Fortune, which has the article. I'd originally read it in another collection, Travels With Dr. Death.

"I actually found myself reassured," Rosenbaum writes. "The kind of person who'd cheerfully volunteer the spoon-and-string story is not the kind of person who'd be likely to conspire to use it to try to provoke World War III."

/. readers might also be interested in another of his articles, Secrets of the Little Blue Box, about the original phone phreaks, published ~1970. update: i just checked and found it online. read and enjoy.

I highly reccommend his books. I don't know what's in Secret Parts, but Travels also had articles about:

• the true-life basis for the film Dead Ringers
• moles in the CIA
• the crazed psychiatrist Errol Morris was documenting before he changed tack and made the Thin Blue Line. Here's a review of that film if you're unfamiliar.
• is Burt Reynolds a murderer?
• Lee Harvey Oswald

I've gone way off-topic, but just had to plug that book. A fantastic read.

The november 2003 issue of Business 2.0 showed an intention to go in that direction, even the MT license debate gave clues a long before. It shouldnt be a bad surprise for anyone, but a great loss to the blog comunity.

sorry to say but the major record labels and the RIAA are TOTALLY useless. here's an example: unknown musician earns prifits The RIAA likes the way it used to be with radio payola and marketing and retail distribution because THEY controlled what the prices were and they were always needed. Now, with internet distribution, any musician can put themselves on the web and by low cost means ( p2p, word of mouth, internet pages,blogs, etc), unknown musicians can get themselves known while earning decent money from their fans thru playing live, selling cd's and t-shirts and fan memorabilia.

The old way of distribution is not working anymore. radio stations and fans with eclectic tastes Fans are not willing to listen to the same old pop-trash "madonna" "michael jackson" "nirvana" songs. Since the internet, people's tastes in music has opened up to include a lot more musicians even on the extreme ends. In the metropolis areas, radio stations playing the same old pop-trash are declining in popularity and the stations getting popular are the ones who include the "left field out there" bands. In a way, i kind of worry that when the "left field out there" bands get popular, the major record labels starts recruiting them, too which is what they want AGAIN ----->>CONTROL OVER DISTRIBUTION & HYPING in order to make more money for themselves.

but to your statement, no, the big record companies ARE USELESS. The major record labels thrived on putting a half dozen bands out there who had the looks and had the one hit which they'd HYPE all over the place so that they could get the CLUELESS masses to buy just those few bands and profit by the millions$$$. If you are "extremely talented as a musician," you still are earning loads of money. In the rollingstone article i listed, notice the new bands that are earning the loads of money?? The big bands may not be earning billions as before but they sure aren't among the working stiff di*ks like us out there. A lot of the bands being helped now are the middle tier bands and musicians who in the pre-p2p days wouldn't be able to get the major record label backing for HYPE and payola anyway. ( Thank you Courtney!!! )

According to this link, the increase in number of skilled jobs is going to be really high by the year 2008. I read the actual article when it came out in the magazine and figures it mentioned(not mentioned in the linked article) indicated that the highest job increase in the top 10 cities mentioned in the said article we predominantly tech jobs. Cities like Washington DC and Austin, TX projected a near 100% increase in jobs. So getting into CET may not be that bad after all given the time you would be done with it. Good luck

Amazon.com enteres into search business
Can Amazon Unplug Google?>

I think this is really a language issue. We aren't speaking the same language. When these MBA IT types talk about information systems they aren't talking about hardware or software. They are talking about some abstract business school concept that has something to do (I think) with creating effective systems (in the traditional sense of the word) to manage information in business. Computers and software are just part of that, and these days a large part of that.

So, I'm sure that they basically learn nothing about actual hardware and software in business school beyond Microsoft as the market leader. But to be fair, here are a couple of articles from the kind of stuff that MBAs read on the plane:

Business 2.0 says Linux is ready for the desktop
Business week seems to think sco is fighting a losing battle

If IT execs are really thinking for themselves and doing the research (which, judging from the pace of linux adoption they are) they are making the right choices. But, there a lot of idiots out there and I don't think that there business school is why they don't get it.

Moved down here in '92, never looked back. IBM, Cisco, SAS, Red Hat, Nortel, Ericsson, Glaxo (and a decent number of bio & tech startups) have a significant presence here. Having UNC, Duke, and NCSU less than 20 miles from each other doesn't hurt either. Business 2.0 recently christened this area as the Next Big Boom Town.

However...

..it will only be a boom town once there is an actual boom. And it isn't here (yet?).

The telecomm meltdown has caused a LOT of pain locally. (Did you notice the high incidence of telecomm equipment manufacturers in that list above? I know many many underemployed or unemployed software developers.) In anticipation, the Tragedy of the Commons is in full effect down here. The locals are cheerily turning North Raleigh (near I-540, which didn't exist 5 years ago) into an overpriced, suburban wasteland to handle the influx of the likes of you, since the local suburbs can't absorb you anymore. (Cary, NC had a population of about 7,000 forty years ago; now it's up to 100,000 -- and not because the natives take the phrase "bedroom community" to heart.)

My advice to you: the Triangle area is great, but our grass is no greener than yours. Should you show up here someday, well, welcome to beautiful North Carolina. Then go home!

This thing ended up on Business 2.0's list of "101 dumbest moments in business 2003" (position 77 or so, on the top ten are online.) It also stated that from the $ 0.18 paid by the primary client only $ 0.03 ended up in Pakistan - so even if jobs move overseas in this case, most of the money stays in the country.