Tonight I was listening to the MacBreak Weekly Podcast with Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, Alex Lindsay and Frederick Van Johnson, when the conversation turned towards the future of Apple's Mac OSX Operating System. It appeared as if the majority of the panel were on the side believes Apple is gradually backing away from its future and that it would be in the best interest of everyone if Apple put it into the Open Source universe. Andy Ihnatko however, staunchly defended his opinion that OSX or whatever variant of Apple's premier platform for the desktop would be in the future, would still be of great interest by Jobs and Apple as a whole. I found myself siding with Andy on this one. Like Mr. Ihnatko, I do not buy into the notion that Apple has turned its back on OSX, quite the contrary. Apple Management's, not necessarily Mr. Jobs', main concern is that Apple is a business... period. As with any other business, the bottom line what feeds Mr. Jobs' passions. Where do you generate income from? Either new products and services, or in new markets. Is it too far fetched to believe that Apple is not using one to fund the other? We should not be naive enough to think that they wouldn't be looking at the Enterprise as a new home for OSX, and using all of the 'i' devices to fund that move in both capital and consumer brand awareness. Ultimately, the big money is in the Enterprise, not in the Mr. & Mrs. Smith household, the creative studios or halls of education who have been loyalists from the beginning. Apple has gone main stream for a reason.

You see, I am not a "creative" by trade. Nor am I a die hard "engineer." I am however, a Technologist. More specifically, an IT Service Management professional who has supported business users with their technology issues for going on 15 years now. I have watched as the Enterprise technology environment has become extremely complex and demands technology that performs heavy lifting with both in the datacenter as well as on the Desktop. It is because of this complexity and demand for greater processing power by users that desktop operating systems like Windows, Linux and OSX will always find a home. I have seen users attempting to perform analysis on data within Microsoft Excel spreadsheets consisting of one-million rows of data and clamoring for more powerful machines and operating systems to support their business efforts. Enterprise businesses live in data. Manipulating that data is what is driving business. That all begins on the desktop. Not on an iPhone, iPad or any variant of an IOS platform. Having worked in two of the most intense global enterprise industries of Financial Services and Audit/Advisory/Tax, I can tell you that if anything, there is a serious push for 64 bit power on the desktop. Surprisingly enough, exactly what places OSX in the position to enter into. What I seemed to be listening to, in the majority of podcasts I hear daily are consumer/creative level discussions about the future of Apple products and services. I see, hell I live outside of that paradigm and what I see is an unbelievable strategic play by Apple to take their game to a much larger level; into the world of the Enterprise, where Microsoft still rakes in hand-over-fist gobs of money via licensing of its various Windows/Exchange/SQL software products. It is no surprise that with Microsoft's announcement today of its earnings, that it is still holding on to the lead in revenue, when it has done nothing substantial over the past 5 years other than release Windows 7 which has yet to be fully grasped by the Enterprise market. When that ball starts rolling, the money will continue to subsidize other business areas within Microsoft. The XP to Vista debacle bought Apple time to focus on modifying a key element to their strategy, brand perception.

Back in August of 2008 while watching Jobs tout the merits of the Snow Leopard operating system, I saw right through the visual bells and whistles of things like TimeMachine and Spaces onto the deeper industry standard technologies baked into Snow Leopard which screamed Enterprise implementation, drawing chuckles when i blogged about my theory. I put my chips down at that point, convinced that what Apple had up its sleeve was a slow, under the radar move into the Enterprise. There would be only two ways to do this. By Brute force, going head-to-head with Microsoft, which I have no doubt that Apple would lose, not because of the technology, but because of the perception of Apple products not being "ready for prime-time." The other being a more strategic 5~10 year plan designed to intricately modify consumer opinion and allow the consumer to demand Apple products in the workplace. Anyone interested in competitive strategy, knows that in one way for Apple to begin to challenge Microsoft would be to not compete with Microsoft directly. A smarter strategy would essentially need to be a death by 1,000,000 paper cuts. Each cut representing a functionality and/or value proposition not at the Enterprise level, but at the consumer level presented to the people who use the technology. In many ways, you need to develop a game plan designed to modify people's perception of your products. What better way to do that then to do it through a consumer platform that demonstrated an excellent user experience, amazing design and unbelievable functionality? Sound like something you know? Enter the 'i' devices. I think it is fair to say at this point, that with OSX safely running in the background of what is now a fever-pitched feeding frenzy on iPods and iPhones, Apple can let the OSX continue to ride in the back seat while perceptions of Apple's brand and products are being swayed daily from word of mouth experiences with the "i" products. Snow Leopard is stable, has a good set of Enterprise level functionality baked in and is waiting in the wings to make its move when called upon, into the business world introduced by none other than the end consumer or employee.

Every Enterprise organization is comprised of people. People who own iPod's, iPhones, iPads in their own homes and absolutely love them. What I am seeing in my own organization, is this discovery of Apple products being made not by members of IT, but from the business. Partners, Directors and other Executive level individuals are now coming to IT asking what it would take to get these products into the company because they can see the value in the functionality they have at home. This is a monumental shift in attitude towards Apple products. Couple that with the reports I read today of Apple Retail beginning to target small to medium business. That is the leap from consumer to business. Enterprise then follows. Why would Steve not return to Apple with a 10, 15 or 20 year strategy for Apple? Not necessarily knowing what products or services Apple would develop, but a very high-level game plan that began with the need to swing public perception of Apple Computer. In retrospect you can almost see the plan being played out:

1. Create something as the trojan horse ("i" devices) capturing the imagination of the guards (consumers)
2. Be carried beyond the walls of the fortress (enterprise)
3. Unleash the beast (OSX) let in by the guards (consumers -> employees)
4. Gain ground against the enemy (Microsoft) within its own walls (Enterprise) capturing the castle ($$)

I know this is again a far fetched belief of mine, but one that I am willing to stick by as I watch it slowly unfold. For the reasons I mention above, I am pretty convinced that Apple will, by no means kill off OSX. OSX (or whatever variant they are working on behind the scenes) is in the bull-pen waiting to be called upon whenever the Enterprise comes calling. This is a Tortoise and Hare scenario. In the end, I believe Apple is playing the slow and steady wins the race game, after all, why would they name all of the OSX variants after cats? Cats are some of the most stealth, calculating animals on the planet you never really know when they are going to pounce.

Most people who know me, write me off to being an Apple Fanboy and that's fine.   The truth of the matter is that it is much more complex than that.  I do enjoy and celebrate Apple products, why?  Because they work for me.  Not you, me.  As a technologist, I have spent too many hours to mention in my life dedicated to fixing Microsoft products and issues to want to allow that to carry over to my pesonal life.  I can do things on Windows that can cause big problems.  Sure I could do the same with Apple products, but I don't have to.  I don't have to worry about registries, dll files, drivers or a never ending battle with virus attacks.  More importantly I don't have to worry about me screwing someting up.  So in that context, Apple products project me from me.  I don't jailbreak my iPad or iPhone, I don't hack away at the UNIX underpinnings in my OSX operating system, I just use the applications to get things done and 95% of the time they work as advertised.

This post is not about Apple or Microsoft, but it is about the electronics consumer in the United States and how the mentality of consumers has shifted.  The recent Apple PR/Engineering debacle of the iPhone 4 has uncovered true ugliness of doing business in the United States.  With Government regulations, Class Action Lawsuits, a rabid panic-enciting media base and a population that feels everything is owed to them, it is a wonder that any company can do business in this country or want to.

The truth in all of this iPhone 4 drama is this.  Apple made a product.  That product has issues.  Apple has handled the situation badly. Trust in their product has taken a hit.  What is not true is that Apple owes us nothing.  Their decisions; good, bad or horrendous are their responsibility and will impact their bottom line and their shareholders.  Why we act as if the decisions or trip-ups that Apple the company performs somehow damage our lives.  News flash:  They dont.

Yet, the environment seems to indicate that somehow apple owes us something for puttnig out a less than operational product.  In my opinion they did the right thing by waiving all fees to return the phone within the 30 day window in which anyone who didn't like the phone could have returned it.  I didn't have an issue serious enough to warrant turning my phone back in.  That was my choice and I exercised it.  Those who didn't puzzle me.

These individuals seem to think that because they spent money with a company who was willing to give that money back within 30 days, that decision was the responsibility for Apple to make based on the crazy idea of issuing a recall of the device.  That is just insane.  So why?  I could see it if the iPhone was the only mobile phone on the market.  It isn't.  So what would drive someone to ignore the issue for 30 days, then get on the bandwagon to somehow punish Apple for their own bad decision?  Class Action Lawsuits, bumper or case giveaways or full-out recalls are all aimed at somehow punishing Apple while holding on to the very device that is not working to their expectations.  AHA!  There it is, the word... "Expectations"

We expect too much and are willing to defer all decision making, risk and responsibility to others because we are owed something.  I think back to the days when rational individuals took responsibility for their own decisions.  The fact that a company is willing to provide options for you to make decisions with should be a kudo's to that company.  We need to stop blaming everyone else for our own bad decisions and start taking responsibility for our own lives.  That includes in our purchases of products.

So in the case of the iPhone 4 issue.  My device is working within my expected parameters.  I am not going to turn it back in and will wait to see if the small issue I do have with the Antenna is sorted through Apple's future actions.  If not, then I have to live with my decision and be happy with it.  I was an early adopter and as with anything else, there are certain risks that I sign up for.  If it goes bad, I really have no one to blame but myself, the penalty to Apple will be another little bit of trust and consumer satisfaction lost from me.  That translates into my decision making process going forward with Apple will be under more scruitiny that it was in the past.  Over time, that will be the ultimate penalty for Apple a growing loss of brand loyalty.

So stop acting like someone has died because of this issue and insisting that Apple be strung up on high because of it.  Look in the mirror ask yourself the following questions:

1. Can I live with another phone?
2. Would I be happy with gettting my money back?
3. Is this issue really impacting your life in a negative manner?

If the answer to any of those is Yes, then you should really consider taking the phone back and getting something else.  Otherwise, stop flooding the world with an issue as trivial as whether or not you get 2 or 5 bars all day, every day.  No one really cares, free up your time to thinks like hunger, people losing their phones or even what is going to happen to the Gulf as a result of the millions of barrels of oil poured into our environment.  Those issues impact peoples lives.  Not whether or not you have an iPhone, Blackberry or Android.  If you want drama, go back to watching soap operas, I hear they are taking a hit in viewer numbers. 

So I have been struggling with all of the new iPhone applications that take advantage of the GPS and Geo-Location features of the device itself. The problem is, is that checking-in and out of so many applications has forced me to focus in on the core few that I would really want to invest my time putzing around with. It is harder than it seems actually as there are so many of these emerging applications fighting for space on smart phones in general. I had to resort back to basic Technology product assessments by first trying to break down the different types of Geo-Location apps, then figure out what my own requirements are for using them. This is what I came up with:

Social Networking

• BrightKite
• DailyPlaces
• Gypsii

Life Logging (Events)

• Whrrl
• thisMoment

Location Only

• Latitude (Google)
• Loopt
• Mobcast

Entertainment/Gaming

• Gowalla
• Foursquare
• MyTown

Local Points of Interest

• Rummblr
• Yelp!

There are some minor cross over points between each of them but in general, the utilization of the GPS function to tag a location or check-in at a location and share with your friends combined with connectivity to "Hub" services like Twitter and Facebook are pretty much the norm.

Of all of the above services I have played around with on the iPhone (most have some availability to Android, Blackberry etc., in some form or another), I initially dropped Rummblr, Latitude, BrightKite, DailyPlaces and Gypsii for various reasons, some technical and some based on how they managed their communities (i.e., users).

So at this very point in time, I am realizing that although it is cool to catalog the various places I visit, unless there is something that I find of value to it, there really isn't a need to hang around on it. I have figured out that where I spend the majority of my time is with those apps that tie in some sort of entertainment or gaming element to them. That is leaving me with the following core apps that I am sticking with for now.

Gowalla - I blogged about it

Foursquare - similar to Gowalla but different type of "Badge Collecting." They just opened up to the world after being primarily focused on major city locations.

MyTown - The newest player on my phone. Reminds me of a web app I made $250 on called WebLo through buying & selling virtual "Real World" properties. For example I now own a Starbucks, Whole Foods near my house as well as the building in which I work. I collect virtual rent on these properties and can buy and sell them in a virtual market place.

I will also still use Whrrl and thisMoment for sort of "Life Logging" events and Yelp! for local info. What I am dropping as of today is Loopt. There is no value in simply seeing where others are checked in at unless we all happen to live in the same general area and are out hooking up for coffee or whatever at various locations. That is not my life. So..... Bye, Bye.

It should also be said that the monsters like FaceBook and Google, where the bulk of my digital life resides, have yet to implement any sort of combined Social/Geo-Location function. Satellite applications like Mobcast have emerged to fill that void, as is the case with FaceBook.

So there you have it. Another one bites the dust. R.I.P. Loopt, it's not personal, just bidnezz.   Things are only going to become increasingly more complex in 2010 as additional services are born into the fight for the smart phone market.

Engaging activities like Scavenger Hunts and Rewards based programs which leverage GPS will probably begin to arrive fast and furious as there is a potential for revenue to be generated in the real-world. Some with Augmented Reality apps (which we are starting to see more of) are arriving as well.

For those early services, rumor mills are full steam as the competition heats up. Gowalla, I have heard, is working on native applications for ALL smart phones as well as introducing more social features into their gaming experience and Foursquare has begun to take advantage of the "real world" through Brick and Mortar sponsorship offering discounts to individuals for checking in at certain locations (bars, restaurants, etc.).   If MyTown can figure out how to do it, there may be some real world cash involved in their virtual real estate market place, similar to what WebLo had.

In short, fasten your seat belts sports fans, its going to be an interesting ride!

 

The first thing about this section which intrigued me was the use of the word "solved" over something more proactive like "eliminate" or "reduce." Personally I would opt for the word "reduce" only because some of that which ails the U.S. right now cannot possibly be solved in either a 4 or 8 year Presidency. Some of these problem in this nation have either been around for decades or have developed unabated over the course of Decades.

I understand that setting goals are what politicians do but some might consider these to be biting off a bit more than one can chew. Time will tell and I realize that 1/2 the battle is to get some of the solutions in place to allow them to grow and mature which is why I have a slight issue with the word "solve."

Lower Health Care Costs by Investing in Electronic Information Technology Systems - Oh that dreaded Health Care topic. There are the 35,000 foot arguments around whether it should remain privatized or be redesigned after some National Health Care program similar to that of other Countries like Japan, the U.K. and even Canada. To me it is all a double edged sword of sorts.

Where the real problems with Healthcare exist in this country is greed, plain and simple. The cost of healthcare is driven by the almighty dollar and everyone out to make a profit. That is one of the prices that has to be paid by Capitalism. So can technology actually put a dent in this problem?

As an IT Service Management professional, my life revolves around identifying inefficient processes in Technology organizations. There are enough of them to keep an army of ITSM professional occupied for a very long time. It appears this is where the focus of the Obama camp is willing to invest $10 Billion dollars. The paper claims that according to a study performed by the Rand Corporation, an estimated $77 Billion dollars could be saved annually by streamlining Hospital Operations through automation and moving towards a "Paperless" environment.

On one hand I would definitely say this is a dent. At the same time it raises questions about if this is a dent, then OMG the amount of money filing the coffer's of the various medial parasites sucking the life out of all of our bank accounts must be astronomical.

Invest in Climate-Friendly Energy Development and Deployment - In two words, going green in the tank. This one is all about bio-fuels and the next generation of energy. With the dependency on foreign oil both in the tank and in the home, it is something we are all aware of. This is an area that needs to be looked at as a stop-gap measure while more time is spent developing new energy sources that are not so heavily dependent on the environment.

A twist on this is his proposed establishment of a Venture Capitalist Fund fed by $10 Billion in investment. It is not clear where this investment will come from or more importantly the percentage to be provided by the U.S. Government. Another investment is to be one that develops a "digital smart energy grid."

Again, it is vague what this last proposal is, but I can only imagine it has to do with the legacy power grid system that causes the country nightmares when something goes wrong. The distribution of power is inefficient and prone to massive outages in certain events. Sometimes you have to re-wire things from scratch instead of constantly applying band-aids to fix those small nagging issues.

Upgrade Education to Meet the Needs of the 21st Century - Education is definitely one of my highest priorities given the fact that I have two small children who have yet to enter the educational system. As a father I look back at how my own educational experience in some ways failed me. I will not get into that, but my own successes have been primarily an educational effort that I drove myself.

My concerns lie in the same areas as most of this country, however where I think the pain is most felt is that of the plight of teachers. Not all mind you, but definitely the majority. Low pay, over crowded class rooms and limited tools to do the job. This is only on area addressed by the Obama campaign. Other areas are focused on specific technology related ares of Science and Mathematics. Investing in programs, at varying levels of the education process are focused on as a means to prevent the exporting of high tech jobs overseas.

This is where I tend to differ. For me it is very much about the foundation of education. It is about ensuring that the soil at the lowest level of the process is fertile enough to plant the seed that will grow a robust education system. For me that starts at the Pre-K, Elementary level. It is about ensuring that the methods practiced for generations are updated to equip our children with the foundation from which to demand knowledge as they rise through the ranks of the education system.

Yes tools are essential, but unless the hunger to learn is there, we will be repeating the same trends and broken processes that are making it difficult to educate our current population. Another area that needs some serious analysis is that of how the Parents are encouraged to participate more in their children's education. It is easy enough to say that parents are accountable for taking responsibility for their child's education at home, but lets be real for a moment, most people saying that are people who had that as a foundation themselves as children, and the reality is, that many in the lower income band did not have one or both parent available to be engaged in their educations. That is an effect of society and economics and this has to be seriously looked at and addressed for without parental influence, children will wander aimlessly hoping that they get a teacher who cares enough to fill that void.

It is easy to say a focus on education will save jobs from traveling overseas or increase our global competitiveness with the likes of India and Asia but the truth of the matter is that these countries take education seriously due to varying reasons which we are not exposed to. This has to be looked at and addressed at the lowest level of education.

Create New Jobs - This is somewhat a double edged sword in our commercially driven culture. The goal is to create a higher level of skilled worker to prevent work from being exported. The problem is, that higher skilled employees equal higher wages which corporate America is avoiding by exporting work to lower wage countries. So what will a more skilled public contribute to lower the unemployment rate through new jobs? What needs to happen is that businesses will need to somehow be encouraged here at home that it is their best financial interest to not export work overseas. Whether that be through Tax breaks or through export tariffs encouraging or forcing them to keep work here at home. Much is said about the pain we will all have to endure to fix our economy, but is the industrial/corporate world ready to suffer as well? The U.S. needs to be a much stronger exporter of goods, services and products and not jobs.

Modernize Public Safety Networks - Redundant. I can't even go further with this review, there are many redundancies in this White Paper to which I have already reviewed and responded to. Here is the truth of the matter. There are what I would consider a lot of "Common Sense" issues here that are being looked at to be addressed. Until we get into the nitty-gritty of each one during implementation, will we fully comprehend what will and will not be feasible to accomplish.

Part of me wants to applaud the plans laid out here, the other part of me wants to guard myself against the typical political wish-list effect that occurs during every election. These are all serious issues that need to be addressed at some point in time. As a Technologist, Husband, Son and Father I am more than aware that technology can assist in resolving some of the issues that ail America today, however none of them will be solved by technology. That job of providing the solutions has to be driven by each and every one of us.

Successful technology is all about possessing the ability to think outside of the box when we all begin to do this and retain an open mind to alternative ways of looking at the issues will we begin to succeed in solving some of our most complex problems. I am pleased that some of the Obama approaches embrace this technique, I only hope that however things turn out someone takes this all serious and begins to get that ball rolling.

Upgrade. Upgrade. Upgrade. In a word, that is what this section deals with. It is about upgrading the very infrastructure that criss-crosses this great country. Realistically it is that "Greatness" or "Vastness" that proves to be the largest hurdle to providing more internet access across this country.

But the problem is deeper than whether or not you can get the internet to someone's door. The truth of the matter is that as long as you have a phone in your home you could access the internet albeit quite a painful experience. The issue here is not internet access as much as it is access to Broadband. Bigger pipes, faster speed providing more access to rich media and content.

It seems that the first hurdle is to not define the term "Broadband" but to modify the definition of broadband to reflect what that term really means. Originally it was laid out as anything over 200Kbps. This in and of itself is absurd. 3G Cellular networks provide more speed than this. The truth is, that the definition of "Broadband" will have be defined as a dynamic term that may require modification or review every 'X' number of years if for no other reason than to keep commercial interests honest concerning the services they provide to the public.

Once that is defined you can then begin to analyze the delivery method of that bandwidth to the citizens of this country. What was once an astronomically cost prohibitive challenge when the consideration was limited to a wired infrastructure, can now be looked at more creatively with the newer technologies available. WiFi, Satellite, Microwave, Cable, Fiber all poised to reach more locations in this vast country than anything else previously on the market.

Where the Internet began as a U.S. Government project, it has slipped into the realm of commercial use and control. What will need to occur to fix this is really a true partnership between the Public and Private sectors to "Git 'er done." The strength of Obama to cross party lines to get things done will be further stretched when he begins to take on the commercial interests of the big national infrastructure players like AT&T, Verizon and others. It will take some serious negotiations and planning to accomplish this task of further providing every American the availability of access to the Internet at reasonable costs.

I honestly do not see this as an impossible task, after all, we have managed to provide water and electricity to almost every household in America why not the Internet when you can serve it up via so many different options?

The old boy network is what I think of when I think of the Federal Government and elected officials. It is almost as if it is a race to get through all of the hard work and struggles of a state level politician to achieve that goal of making it to Washington. Once there all of the reasons and issues that led one there are quickly forgotten or overshadowed by the perks of an elected official in Washington.

That is how I have always viewed it and so have numerous others who have lost their confidence in Washington to look out for those of us who depend on them to do the right thing. What has happened and I venture to believe will continue to happen, is that lobbyists for Big Business will continue to shower these officials with elaborate schemes to "sweeten" the deal for their own interests and deep pockets over that of the "little guy".

This has been able to occur because of the bureaucracy and web of double speak that occurs in Washington that throws up a smoke screen to these questionable activities. Essentially it occurs under the table, radar and whatever else you can think of keeping it all out of sight of the general public.

Obama's Policy Paper attempts to address this issue through the use of Technology. His continued fight against the deceit and vagueness that occurs within government is admirable, however how much would he actually be able to achieve? More importantly, if this information is made available, how much of the voting public would actually pay attention to it and take matters into their own hands to seek out the truth in government?

I am as guilty as the next for only sticking to the headlines as published through the mainstream media. That information is also essentially the opinion or writings of others who may not have the same interests as your or I. To effectively ensure that these officials and special interest groups are held at bay will require the work of all of us. To go beyond the headlines and dig into the data that Mr. Obama intends to make technically available to all of us. I can think of one place in particular that provides an immense amount of information available today on the work being done in the halls of Congress and the Senate. It is called OpenCongress.Org and puts out there for all of us to view each and every Bill put before these governmental bodies.

The beauty of this site in particular is it also puts out there which elected officials Sponsor, support and vote on each and every one of them. The site is thorough providing you with contact information based on your district's representation in these public offices to allow you to voice your opinion directly to these official. It is a very good site for those serious about discovering what issues affect you.

So even though the goal is to create a transparent and connected democracy, it is "We The People" yet again that will have to uphold our side of this deal by taking advantage of the information that is being made transparent. Without such action these efforts are completely for naught.

How can it be a right to have privacy yet live with limits to that privacy? Is that truly a right? I would think it is more of a Guideline to Privacy. Yes ladies and gentlemen this is a tricky one made even more complicated by the numerous stories of Governmental misuse of laws "re-engineered" to allow wire-tapping in the name of terrorism.

Safeguard our Right to Privacy - The internet is truly the information superhighway. At the same time, a large portion of that information is information about you, your neighbors and your family. Every day we are under attack from spammers, hackers, viruses and criminals trying to trick us into voluntarily providing our personal information to some cause or overthrown leader of a West African nation so that they can recover their Family's lost millions, of which you will receive a handsome percentage of. DUH!

Then it gets complicated. Rumors of Corporate Espionage come into play. Companies trying to obtain employee data via cold-calls to unsuspecting and un-informed employees. Stolen electronic devices and laptops containing sensitive corporate information as well as employee information.

Finally it gets down right scary. Governmental information of U.S. Citizens stored in who knows what dungeon within the walls of the C.I.A., FBI or NSA all in the name of National Security. Social Security Numbers lost on laptops left behind in public locations or stolen outright. Yes, we are at war, but not a conventional one.

This is a war of electronic deception that moves at the speed of light. in some cases, set off by the stupidity of the human condition. Data and Information are what they are. There is no code that decides to steal data or lose a laptop. This is all done within the magic realm of the human mind. The one variable that is the most difficult to control, manage or stop.

The good news is, you can educate, inform and put in place serious penalties for those who commit crime or abuse personal information or data. You can even continue to research and implement stronger encryption and algorithms to slow down cyber crime. But you will never stop it. That is the other side of the human condition ingenuity.

We can all sit around and hope someone else comes up with a better mouse-trap, we can even recoil into a face-less existence on-line. As we continue to leverage technology to streamline our daily lives however, pulling away from the net may very well be the equivalent of saving your life's savings within the coils of your mattress at home.

The world is marching unabated into a future that will become more increasingly integrated with the on-line world driven by business and other critical industries we have to deal with on a daily basis. It is nice to see Political figures making efforts to understand and address this, but once again, it is our own responsibility as citizens to understand technology and take steps to protect our own data. In most cases this involves a tad bit more common sense than we have seen in the past; passwords people, passwords!

This is not an Election issue, this is a life issue we all should be very much on top of you have to keep yourself informed, educated and engaged with your government representatives, making sure they do what it is that is in all of our best interest. But you already knew that, didn't you?

With it being an election year, every pundit on the street has their opinion about the economy, the candidates, the geo-political issues. Much like the general public, politicians who are engaged in an election cycle also begin to become "concerned" or "aware" of the issues of we, the people. These points of public interest are usually addressed by these candidates in their fresh-off-the-press Policy Papers. It would seem there is a policy paper for everything.

This is going to be a blog series that will look at an area that I am well plugged into; Technology. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama has release his own Policy Paper addressing technology. I intend to read through and blog on each section. Might be able to shed some light on where a possible President will see my future going. For now, I leave you with the quote from Mr. Obama's website:

“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.” — Barack Obama Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07